CANBERRA: Mazda’s updated ‘6’ midsizer arrived in Australia this week, bringing updated styling and a vastly overhauled interior.
New seats, a new seven-inch display screen and Mazda’s MZD connectivity all feature in the new interior, while the carmaker says road noise – or the absence of it – has improved by up to 25 percent.
The same petrol and diesel engines carry over from last year, in 2.5 and 2.2 litre capacities respectively.
It’s been a two-year wait, but Renault’s first compact SUV, the new Captur, is now on sale in Australia.
Two petrol engines in 0.9 litre three-cylinder and 1.2 litre four-cylinder guises will be available, matched to five-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions respectively.
Prices start from $22,990 plus on-road costs.
Holden waited until Friday afternoon to do it, but the carmaker outlined some important future plans this week.
Aussie Mark Bernhard becomes the first local to head the organisation since John Bagshaw in 1990, and becomes the sixth leader in as many years.
Holden promised 24 new models between now and 2020, along with a “true sports car” – stay tuned for more on that one…
In other news, BMW gave its 3 Series range a significant upgrade for 2015, but prices have risen from between $400 and $3,100 as a result.
Pricing and features for the 2015 Suzuki Celerio were announced, but the new model’s local arrival has been delayed ‘until further notice’.
The Mazda3 had a positive start to 2015, being the top-selling car for January in a month that saw strong SUV sales.
Jaguar has updated its F-TYPE Coupe and Convertible for 2015, bringing new manual-equipped models to Australia in the process.
Honda’s Odyssey people-mover is now more affordable for Australian customers, thanks to the Free Trade Agreement with Japan.
Lexus also responded to the Free Trade Agreement this week, delivering significant price-cuts of between $2,000 and $8,630 on much of its range.
Peugeot added the ‘Downtown’ pack to its 2008 SUV range, which gives buyers a choice of cosmetic highlights in pink, orange or green fluorescent shades.
Ford’s hotly-anticipated Focus RS was revealed this week, and has now been confirmed for an Australian launch.
Mazda Australia marketing boss Alastair Doak declared “March can’t come soon enough”, as the carmaker’s local arm prepares for the arrival of the new CX-3 SUV.
Porsche pulled the covers off its Cayman GT4 flagship, and revealed the new model would be available to Australian customers from $190,300 plus on-roads starting late this year.
REVIEWS
We took to the wheel of the 2015 Mazda 6 petrol sedan and wagon this week, declaring the updated midsizer to be a classy offering now made even better.
BMW’s updated X6 now offers ‘more of everything’, and our drive revealed the German sports car/SUV lovechild does a good job of combining the two genres.
In case you missed it earlier, Renault’s Captur compact SUV is now available in Australia and we drove both the manual and auto-equipped models this week. Check out our review.
We declared the 2015 Lexus NX 200t to be the NX to get; the new turbocharged engine under its bonnet, a sharp price and sumptuous interior make it better buying than the sporty German equivalents.
Finally, we found the 2015 Peugeot 308 Allure Touring offered the style, sophistication and practicality to make it a real alternative to an SUV.
