Car News

Australians planning to holiday at home are helping drive a sales surge of the Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive – even as the overall car market posted two of its worst months in 30 years due to the coronavirus crisis. Nissan Australia has reportedly put in an urgent call for more Patrols out of the factory to keep up with local demand. Sales of the Nissan Patrol have increased for the past three months in a row compared to the same period last year.

Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is the latest to receive a multi-billion euro government-backed loan, with €6.3 billion being made available to the company from one of Italy's largest banks, news agency Reuters reports. This comes after FCA announced in April 2020 that the company had drawn down €7.75 billion from credit facilities dating back to 2015.

The German government will mandate electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities at all of its petrol stations, according to an international report. Germany’s initiative would see every petrol station in the country offer some form of electric car charging as part of a €130 billion (AU$212 billion) economic recovery package designed to boost electric car sales. The ADAC – a German roadside assistance association – estimates there are currently 14,118 petrol stations in the country.

Police will be out in force this long weekend with a renewed focus on random roadside testing to detect drivers who could be affected by alcohol and drugs. Roadside testing was paused during the peak of the coronavirus crisis and widespread lockdowns, for the safety of officers conducting the tests and to prevent cross-contamination among drivers.

The birthplace of every Holden built in Australia over the past 60 years – the Lang Lang test track on the south-eastern outskirts of Melbourne – has caught the interest of a number of potential bidders, CarAdvice has learned. The property has been listed for sale on behalf of US car giant General Motors by industrial real estate specialist CBRE, who also handled the sale of former Holden manufacturing sites at Elizabeth and Port Melbourne.