April’s Easter and Anzac day holiday break is being cited as the cause for an 8.8% drop in sales compared to 2010 figures. In all 74,214 new vehicles were sold.
Japanese marques are expected to have temporary ongoing supply issues following the unfortunate earthquake and tsunami.
Toyota and Holden continue their reign as the country’s top two selling brands. However, in April, they gain a rare visit from Hyundai in third place, ahead of usual rivals Ford and Mazda.
BMW UK has taken the interesting step of forming an official partnership with eBay. The move will allow owners to purchase original parts direct from BMW without needing to visit a dealer. At this stage, BMW Australia has no plans to follow suit.
Official manufacturer eBay stores sound like a good idea to us, what do you think?
Volkswagen has released new images of this Golf GTI “Edition 35”. As its name suggests, it’s been created to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original Mk1 GTI.
Official press text is thin on the ground at the moment, but we can tell you the Edition 35 has an 18kW increase on the regular GTI. That means peak power is up from 155kW to 173kW.
Outside, there’s model specific 18″ “Watkins Glen” alloy wheels, as well as model specific “35” badging. The front spoiler has also been given a slight tweak. Inside, the “35” theme continues with badging on the door sills and honeycomb trimmed seats. Also included is a dimpled gearknob, a feature honouring the Mk1 once more and previously seen on other special edition GTIs.
The Golf GTI Edition 35 will make its public debut at the annual Wörthersee show in early June. We expect more technical details will be revealed then. We don’t expect this model will find its way down under, but we will ask the question to Volkswagen Australia.
UPDATE 11 May: A brief press release from Volkswagen AG has been added below.
Seven time World Rally Champion and Citroën works driver Sebastien Loeb extended his lead in the 2011 WRC standings with victory in the Rally d’Italia Sardegna.
Loeb explains being the first car our during the rally brought tricky conditions, “We started with the big disadvantage of being first out on the road on the opening day. We managed to take the lead and build up a small cushion, which we maintained yesterday and today. To do so we had to go pedal to the metal from start to finish.
“I felt good in the car, and this helped me push really hard. Obviously, it was very fraught at certain moments so it’s a big relief to see the end of the rally.â€
In second place was Ford driver Miko Hirvonen. Third place was claimed by privateer entrant Petter Solberg, driving a Citröen DS3 WRC.
Rally d’Italia also marked the debut race for the new MINI John Cooper Works WRC. Drivers Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke posted respectbale times and Sordo finished the race in sixth place. Meeke was plagued by reliability issues and the team will come away form the event with some solid data to aid their ongoing development.
The next rally takes place in Argentina (26–29 May). MINI will sit out the next two rallies before rejoining competition at Rally Finland in late July.
Sebastian Vettel has qualified on pole for the last five grands prix; that includes Abu Dhabi last year and all races so far in 2011. Meanwhile, so far this year, Webber has only managed to force a Red Bull Racing front row lockout once, at last weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.
So how does Vettel do it? What does Mark need to do to edge out his younger and apparently faster teammate?
In this fascinating clip from BBC, Martin Brundle talks us through the final qualifying laps of the two men and explains where the time was won and lost.
[Thanks to the Tims for the tips]
Just four races into the 2011 Formula One season and current world champ Sebastian Vettel is showing the required form to secure a second title. Following his third win of the year at the Turkish Grand Prix the Red Bull Racing driver holds a 34 point lead over his nearest rival in the title race (Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 59pts). To use football parlance, the young German has dropped only seven points from a possible 100.
It’s been a staggering start to the year that must have his rivals wondering if it’s time to start thinking if second is the best they can hope for.
Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber lost a position at the start to Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) but managed to wrest it back and following a early tyre change settled into a four-stop rhythm. The Australian traded places with Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and a new set of tyres on his last change was enough to help Webber secure second place ahead of Alonso.
Aside from Vettel’s comfortable position in the title race the talking points to emerge from Istanbul centre around the DRS and Michael Schumacher. The Drag Reduction System made overtaking too easy in race conditions and let’s hope that is simply a feature of the Istanbul Park layout.
Meanwhile, Schumacher, who was on the pace all throughout practice could only qualify in eighth. During the race a clumsy move on Petrov forced him to pit early for a new wing and in the laps that followed he looked horribly outclassed in wheel-to-wheel racing. It was almost sad to watch.
After the break you can read the full transcript from the post-race press conference.
[Pic: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images]
The Porsche Cayman S is the latest to get the “Black Edition” treatment, and follows similar versions of the 911 and Boxster S.
Like the Boxster, the Cayman S Black Edition scores a modest 7kW power increase, raising peak power to 243kW. The 19″ wheels are sourced from the Boxster Spyder and offer increased diameter and width over standard Cayman wheels.
The Cayman S Black Edition is limited to 500 cars worldwide and a small number will be making their way to Australia. Local deliveries are scheduled to commence in September and the asking price remains at the regular Cayman S figure of $147,500 (plus on roads etc).
Press releases from Porsche AG and Porsche Australia follow.
A few days ago McLaren GT had its official launch press conference. It’s the separate company set up by McLaren and CRS Racing Team for the development and running of the MP4-12C GT3 program.
They’ll be racing their own cars, of course, but if you’ve got nothing better to do with your Sunday afternoons in 2012 you too can race a 12C GT3. All you’ll need is £310,000 for the “race ready” car and a racing budget. Too easy!
For the 2012 season McLaren GT will have 20 cars ready to race, so if you get saving now you just might be in luck.
After the break you can see a nice selection of images of the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 in its stunning orange livery, along with some highlights from the press conference and more.
Jaguar has announced a partnership with the Williams F1 team that will see the C-X75 concept car from last year’s Paris Motor Show come to life. The hybrid powered concept used a pair of gas turbine engines to recharge the batteries for the electric motors found at each wheel. However, the transformation from concept to reality will see the C-X75 be powered by a more conventional arrangement including two electric motors and an internal combustion engine.
The only specifics given, at this stage, relate to performance targets and pricing. Jaguar say the road version of the C-X75 will be able to crack 100km/h in under three seconds, 160km/h in 12 seconds and have a top speed over 320km/h. In all electric mode it will have a modest 50km range, while overall it should emit 99g/km of CO2 emissions.
Just 250 examples of the all-wheel drive hybrid supercar will be built, with an expected price range of £700,000–900,000 (AU$1.07–1.37 million).
After the break you’ll see more pics, a press release from Jaguar along with a video review of the concept car by Jay Leno. Also included is a download of the press docs from Paris 2010.
Another Grand Prix, another pole position for Sebastian Vettel. The reigning champ has now put his Red Bull Racing machine on pole for all four races in 2011. His best time of 1:25.049 was four tenths quicker than his teammate Mark Webber (1:25.454), who achieved his best qualifying result for the year to date. Nico Rosberg (1:25.574) also notched up his best quali result for 2011 and showed signs of an improving Mercedes GP outfit by qualifying in third place.
Interestingly, the Red Bull duo completed just one quick lap in the third qualifying session, opting to conserve tyres for the race. It’s a tactic that’s already been used in 2011, but it certainly attracted attention to see Vettel climb out of his car with 90 seconds of the final session remaining. Supreme confidence shown by the Red Bull team and perhaps a clear indication of a “catch us if you can” attitude to their rivals.
Make sure you read the full transcript from the post-qualifying press conference below. There’s some interesting discussion about the Webber–Vettel incident from last year. And, Rosberg’s final line, in written form at least, seemed particularly cutting; especially when you consider the glum face produced by Michael Schumacher (1:26.646) after qualifying in eighth place.
[Pic: Red Bull Racing/Getty Images]
Following the written confirmation, here is video confirmation of Volkswagen’s plan to enter the WRC with a new Polo R WRC. The only shame of today’s announcement is we have to wait until 2013 for it to be realised.
Overnight Volkswagen confirmed two rumours, one directly, the other indirectly. First, Volkswagen confirmed its plans to enter a factory-backed team in the World Rally Championship from 2013. By nominating a new Polo R WRC as the car of choice we think VW has also indirectly confirmed plans to manufacture the on-again, off-again Polo R road car.
Speaking about the company’s decision to move into WRC Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Management Board of the Volkswagen Brand, Development Division said, “The new Technical Regulations of the World Rally Championship are an ideal fit for Volkswagen’s philosophy with respect to the development of production vehicles.
“Downsizing, high efficiency and reliability are top priorities for our customers. The timing of the WRC debut is optimal for Volkswagen. The big task of engineering a vehicle that is competitive and capable of winning at a large number of challenges holds great appeal for us.”
Volkswagen reckon their strong success in Dakar not only gives them a solid grounding for a WRC effort, but also the desire to reach new heights. Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director explains, “We can draw on an experienced and proven squad which has done an outstanding job in top-calibre sport in the past few years. Even though the WRC is new territory for us and involves learning in many areas the team already meets some important prerequisites now as it brings an unwavering professional attitude and resolve to deliver absolute perfection to this commitment.”
One thing is certain, the Polo R WRC concept car you see in these pictures looks fantastic! A full gallery and press release can be viewed below.