Car News

New vehicle sales in Australia over the first quarter of 2019 fell 7.9% relative to the same period in 2018, to 265,538 units. This is the lowest Q1 tally since 2014, and marks 12 consecutive months of negative growth. You can read this reporter’s Q1 market breakdown here, discussing sales by segment, brand, region, fuel type and origin, as well as specific monthly reports for 2019 for January, February and March.

Social media accounts for Lexus Taiwan and Lexus China have teased a new vehicle, which will debut at the 2019 Shanghai motor show taking place in the middle of the month. Lexus says the new car offers "the luxury of space" and gives its occupants a "personal private space". A report from Chubu Keizai indicates the company is planning to make a new Lexus model at the Toyota Auto Body factory in Inabe City.

Long before most US buyers have even seen the all-new Jeep Gladiator, let alone driven one, a run of 4190 limited-run Launch Editions have sold out. And they were on sale for just 24 hours. Mind, the lucky buyers likely never stepped outside their front door to order their car: the pre-order process involved a dedicated online Gladiator Concierge, as well as connecting with a local Jeep dealer.

A proposed merger lodged with the ASX would see Australia’s two biggest new-car dealer groups become one $1.8 billion entity, billed as ‘Australia’s leading automotive group’. Queensland-based A.P. Eagers today announced the conditional all-scrip offer to acquire remaining shares of WA’s Automotive Holdings Group (AHG) that it doesn’t already control. A.P. Eagers already owns 28.84% of AHG’s shares, meaning the proposed risk of a rival bid is seen as very low.

Tesla has begun rolling out an over-the-air software change to its Navigate on Autopilot feature, which allows the car to automatically change lanes when driving on a highway. Previously for cars equipped with Navigate on Autopilot, the vehicle was able to drive accelerate, brake and steer for itself on divided highways.