Craig Hill Media and Consulting
Cars
May 17 2005 Toyota announces plans for hybrid Camry
On May 17th 2005, Toyota Motor Company announced its plans to produce a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its bestselling Camry sedan. Built at the company’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, the Camry became Toyota’s first hybrid model to be manufactured in the United States. Toyota introduced the Camry–the name is a phonetic transcription of the Japanese word … Continue reading
Ford B-Max
When the Ford B-Max goes on sale in early 2012 it will feature a new format of pillarless doors. On the outside the styling is the latest iteration of Ford’s ‘kinetic design’ DNA, and mixes different elements to create a decent looking little MPV. It even manages to look good despite the metallic brown paint … Continue reading
BMW M1 Homage (2009)
The car which brought the BMW M1 back from the dead is coming to Australia. The M1 Homage show car will headline for the German brand at the Melbourne Motor Show from the end of February. The original M1 broke the mould for BMW when it was launched in the late 1970s, as it was … Continue reading
Marcos Ambrose First Australian In the Daytona 500 (2009)
Australian driver Marcos Ambrose survived a wild, rain-shortened Daytona 500 to finish a highly-respectable 17th in his history-making debut in America’s great stock car race. Ambrose negotiated his way through several chain-reaction crashes, including a major nine-car pile up sparked by race favourite Dale Earnhardt Jr, and was making a charge for the lead when … Continue reading
General Motors May Axe Holden Ute Import (2009)
The savaged local car industry has received another blow with General Motors in Detroit axing plans to import an Aussie-built Holden ute. GM Holden’s Elizabeth plant was due to start gearing up to build the Commodore-derived Pontiac G8 ST ute within months, with shipments due to start at the end of the year. With projected … Continue reading
Volvo C30 (2009)
No-one knows how much longer Volvo will be part of the Ford family. The American company is in crisis, despite last week’s George Bush- backed bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, and has already sold its stake in Mazda to clear some cash. Volvo would bring in more bucks, but the brand has a lot … Continue reading
Holden Statesman AFM
There are not many bigger passenger cars than the Holden Statesman, so when you advise it has fuel-saving technology, eyebrows are raised. There’s no EcoLine Active Fuel Management badge on this pilot-build Statesman but one of the digital displays within the instruments is telling me it’s switching between four and eight cylinders. Holden says it … Continue reading
Green Queen Elizabeth Switches To Biofuel
Queen Elizabeth II has become the latest royal to join the green revolution. The Queen has asked that her two gas-guzzling V8 Bentley State Limousines be converted to run on biofuel. The Bentleys are based on the Arnage, but were custom-built in-house by the company’s Mulliner coach building division. The limos are currently powered by … Continue reading
Toyota Australia Shuts Down TRD Division
Toyota has shut down it’s Australian TRD division, after just 888 sales and a range of setbacks, including a safety recall for an engine failure. The decision to close the go-faster shop has cost an estimated $20 million in research-and-development, dealer facilities and a production tie-up with Prodrive in Melbourne. The 17 staff at TRD … Continue reading
James Morrison New Host Of TV Top Gear In 2009
James Morrison, the jazz star and major car enthusiast, is the new host of the Aussie version of the TG down under after a major off-season shake-up. Officially, former host Charlie Cox is returning “reluctantly” to the UK for “business reasons”. Unofficially, the whole TG on-air team has taken a hammering from critics who say … Continue reading
2009 Renault Megane Coupe Trophy
The Megane Coupe Trophy will take part in the 2009 World Series by Renault (WSR) having undergone a raft of upgrades including an entirely new body design which takes its inspiration from the lines of all-new generation Megane Coupe.Fitted with a Nissan-sourced 3.5-litre 24V V6 developing 265 kW (360 hp), power is sent to the … Continue reading
2009 Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan
Subaru Australia has previewed its new generation Impreza WRX sedan at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney and it features a lot more than just a boot – it also packs an extra 26 kW more power and 23 Nm more torque, better fuel efficiency and upgraded suspension. This brings the total power and … Continue reading
Lotus Evora Coming To Australia (2008)
The all-new Lotus Evora 2-plus-2 sports car has been confirmed for Australia – one of the first international markets to secure an allocation – with local deliveries expected in the third quarter of 2009. The mid-engined sports car will complement the existing four-model range of Elise, Exige, Europa and 2-Eleven.While local prices have yet to … Continue reading
Mercedes-Benz: New adaptive high-beam assistant (2008)
Mercedes-Benz has developed an innovative system that automatically adapts headlamp range to the distance of vehicles ahead or to oncoming vehicles meaning drivers will, at all times, benefit from optimum headlamp range to recognise other road users, pedestrians or danger spots more easily and more quickly. Due to become available from the second quarter of … Continue reading
Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Australian Pricing (2008)
Mitsubishi will take the fight to Subaru’s WRX with the local launch of the all-wheel drive turbocharged Lancer Ralliart in both sedan and Sportback (hatchback) body styles.Bridging the gap between the Lancer VR-X and the top-of-the-range Lancer Evolution, the Lancer Ralliart features a detuned version of the Evolution’s 2.0-litre turbocharged and intercooled MIVEC engine that … Continue reading
Lexus IS-F Australian Pricing (2008)
Luxury Japanese marque Lexus has dropped a bombshell on its German rivals in the sports luxury segment by announcing an aggressive and very competitive price for its first dedicated performance model, the IS-F. Widely predicted to cost around or just under the $150,000 mark thus undercutting the Audi RS4 ($164,500) and BMW M3 ($157,000), Lexus … Continue reading
Porsche Tuner RUF Goes Electric With eRUF Concept (2008)
Specialist Porsche after-market tuner, RUF, has unveiled the eRUF Model A concept, a 911 equipped with a three-phase electric motor that develops 150 kW and an impressive 650 Nm from 0 rpm onwards – enough to get the vehicle moving from standstill in 6th gear!While a 0-100 km/h time of seven seconds and a top … Continue reading
FPV 5th Anniversary Model (2008)
Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) celebrated its fifth anniversary at this year’s Australian International Motor Show with the release of a special edition FPV 5th Anniversary model featuring several unique features such as 19-inch multi-spoke Alpine Silver alloy wheels, a premium 6-piston Brembo brake package, sports seats finished in Nudo Leather and 5th Anniversary logo embossed … Continue reading
BMW Concept X1 (2008)
German car maker BMW’s forever expanding range of X models – which currently includes the X3, X5 and X6 – will shortly be joined by the X1, a compact SUV that made its debut in concept form at the Paris Motor Show.The front end of the concept car features strong sculptural lines (especially the bonnet), … Continue reading
2009 Kia Cerato (2008)
Taking centre stage at the Kia stand at this year’s Australian International Motor Show is the stylishly European Kia Cerato sedan, the ‘new face of Kia’ scheduled for release on the local market in early 2009. As the ‘new face of Kia’, the Cerato features a new H-grille design penned by Kia’s global chief design … Continue reading
2009 Mazda3 (2009)
The first images of the new 2009 Mazda3 sedan has been unveiled at both the Australian International Motor Show and around the world simultaneously, ahead of its international debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show which starts on November 19.The Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus etc. rival features many of the styling cues which … Continue reading
2009 Mazda MX-5
The Mazda MX-5 aka Miata is one of the world’s most popular roadsters and for good reason: it’s fun to drive, handles like a dream and is affordable. Now in its third-generation, the iconic Mazda roadster has received a facelift for 2009 featuring a redesigned front-end with the new corporate face of a five-point air … Continue reading
Tax On Diesel (2008)
There has been much debate recently about tax on diesel. This tax was introduced to fund the infrastructure for natural gas, but this infrastructure has never happened. So the question arises: why do we still pay the tax. When diesel first became popular, it was because it was cheaper. It was cheaper, because it is … Continue reading
Craig Hill Media and Consulting 