Nowadays, European cars are pricing themselves down. With new product development and the amortisation of technology spurring affordability, $50,000 can either put you into an upper-spec medium SUV of the mainstream variety, or as we’re about to analyse, a premium mid-tier small SUV...
Has the past year been kind to these fancy little premium SUVs? Let's take another look. This story was first published in August 2019.
The Audi Q3 has stepped up in size and tech for its second generation. But can it topple our current benchmark in the premium compact SUV segment, the Volvo XC40?
Volvo Cars registered record sales in 2018, making it Australia’s fastest-growing luxury brand. That was with a showroom comprising 10 vehicles, yet the Swedish brand expects to sell more models in 2019 with just four vehicles after a major culling process. Gone from local (though not most overseas) showrooms are the S90 large sedan, V40 hatchback and its higher-riding twin, the V40 Cross Country...
A mainstream mid-sized SUV versus a premium compact sports utility vehicle… Well, who said cross-shopping is always about comparing direct rivals? This comparison between the 2018 Mazda CX-5 Akera and new Volvo XC40 T5 R-Design stems from a CarAdvice reader’s request – yes, we listen to you! – and it throws up some tantalising questions we also wanted to answer...
From our vantage point, there’s barely a volume carmaker of note without a small crossover SUV – a high-riding hatchback with attitude designed for young up-and-comers and well-funded downsizers in equal measure...
You’ve got about $80,000 to spend on a mid-sized luxury SUV, but is it best to go the traditional German route or take the alternative Swedish path?
If you're anything like me, you think SUVs are purpose-built to define drivers as kid-ferrying lemmings. Why can't you have the ability to haul kids, but the practicality of style and occasional off-road ability. That's what the people at Volvo and Mercedes-Benz thought when they created the Volvo V90 Cross Country and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All Terrain...
The new-all Volvo S90 and next-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class take on Audi's A6 to see which is the king of European plus-sized diesel sedan. It turns out that there's much more to play for in this segment beyond big legroom and low fuel bills...
For around $100k there's a huge choice of plus-sized premium SUVs on offer. We take eight of the finest on a three-day trek to decide which is the finest luxury family hauler decent money can buy...
Two giant releases on the large-SUV radar this year, the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90, seem intent on reshaping the seven-seater landscape with aligned vision and purpose. Surprising, perhaps, given how differently the Swedish and German brands have been traditionally perceived, but also how different this Big Boy pair are by all appearances viewed from 50 paces...
