Car News

The Honda Civic Type R has set a blistering but unofficial lap record for a road-legal hot hatch at Mount Panorama Bathurst, posting a time of 2 minutes 35.207 in the hands of Formula 1 ace Jenson Button. The 2009 Formula 1 world champion flew into Australia on a secret mission to do the timed run on Easter Monday, while the circuit was closed following the previous day’s six-hour production car race.

We all knew it was coming. With the future slowly becoming all about electric propulsion, the internet's favourite hoon says an electric Gymkhana is on the way. Speaking to media at the Eneos International Rally of Whangarei last week, Hoonigan co-founder Ken Block told us he loves technology, but he'll always have a soft spot for internal combustion engines.

The Stuttgart prosecutor's office has penalised Porsche €4 million ($6.4 million) for a "negligent breach of duty" relating to its use of diesel engines with emissions-test-cheating software. The rest of the fine – €531 million ($847 million) – comes from a levy calculated from the "economic benefit" the company derived from its illegal activities.

General Motors (GM) announced plans to idle five of its North American manufacturing plants in November 2018, leaving 2800 'active' hourly jobs at risk. According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, about 500 of those 2800 at-risk employees have been laid off awaiting re-assignment, with 700 left at the Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant closing in January 2020, and 265 employed at the Warren Transmission plant closing in August 2019.

Toyota Australia has racked up more than 100,000 hybrid sales in Australia, nearly 20 years since the Prius first went on sale locally. According to the Japanese brand, which is also Australia's top-selling manufacturer, the milestone was reached "towards the end of April", ahead of the launch of the new RAV4 Hybrid this month.