Articles by Laura Berry

Maybe it’s the Ferrari SUV looks or the competitive pricing, but whatever it is Chinese car manufacturer Xiaomi's YU7 electric SUV is selling faster than it’s possible for the company to make, with 240,000 locked-in orders being placed in China within 18 hours after its launch.With a starting price of about A$54,000, the five-metre long five-seater YU7 is a rival to Tesla's Model Y, BYD Sealion 7, Zeekr’s 7X and BYD’s upcoming Tang L. And its popularity should have those carmaking behemoths shaking in their boots.The huge number of orders for the YU7 means Xiaomi's production capacity has been overwhelmed and it will take until early 2027 for it to be able to produce those 240,000 locked-in orders.Xiaomi currently only has one plant located in Beijing with an annual capacity of 150,000 units.  A second plant is under construction and is expected to be operational this month with an annual capacity of 150,000 units as well.In China the YU7 is offered in three grades. The range kicks off with the Standard grade, featuring a single motor powering the rear wheels and producing 235W and 528Nm. Stepping up to the Pro grade brings all-wheel drive and two motors with a combined output of 365kW and 690Nm. Both use a 96.3kWh LFP battery.  Top-of-the-range Max is also all-wheel drive and its motors produce a whopping 508kW and 866Nm. That's enough grunt to throw this SUV from 0 to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds. A bigger 101kWh NCM battery is in the Max.The YU7 is Xiaomi's second vehicle to come to market following the SU7 saloon’s arrival in May, 2024. A rival to Tesla's Model 3 the SU7 has also seen outstanding sales numbers with more than 258,000 sold since its launch. Xiaomi is better known as an electronics maker producing phones especially. While it hasn't been confirmed if the company will come to Australia, given the success of rival Chinese companies like BYD, Geely and MG it's likely the company will bring its products here at some point. 

The final installment of the Berry family's long-term test of the GWM Tank 500 Ultra is here. Does a recent discovery change the verdict?

Subaru, we love you but you're missing a few things.Where is your ute? Your retro-revived Brumby? And while we’re at it there are so many other models you should be making and selling in Australia. Here’s our shopping list of what Subaru needs to doOK, well it does look like the Brumby might happen, with CarsGuide reporting recently that Subaru and Toyota were teaming up to produce a small electric ute. And that’s exciting even if it’s only taken 31 years to bring the Brumby back. We’re not saying Subaru doesn't have any good cars in Australia - it absolutely does. The family favourite Forester is probably the best off-the beaten track capable mid sized SUV and the WRX is a superb rally car for the road, but there are more than a few missing models from Subaru’s line-up.The most obvious is a seven seater SUV, which would be able to compete with Mitsubishi's Outlander, Kia’s Sorento and Hyundai’s Santa Fe. Imagine a Forester XL — a three row, seven-seat SUV that’s about 200mm longer than the standard Forester at 4840mm length. It’d have Subaru’s symmetrical SUV and 215mm of ground clearance and be one of the most adept light-off roaders on sale. Price it from $50,990 to $73,000. It’d sell like cakes that are hot.You actually don't have to imagine a Forester XL, because it really exists in the United States and it's called the Ascent. It's  a three-row seven- or eight-seat SUV that's basically a big Forester.What about a Toyota LandCruiser or Nissan Patrol rival? Could Subaru build one of these? Not on its own, but it is very buddy-buddy with Toyota. In the same way Subaru’s BRZ sports car and Solterra electric SUV were both born out of joint ventures with Toyota, a LandCruiser Prado or 300 Series version could be entirely possible.Oh, and while we’re at it, a HiLux-based ute would also see Subaru go head-to-head with Ford’s Ranger, Nissan’s Navara and Isuzu D-Max.I’d like to think Subaru could come up with amazing names for these two new vehicles but history says coming up with a names isn’t really the brand’s strength. So the ute would likely be something like the Subaru Muster and the big hardcore off-road SUV would be the Subaru Longitude. Terrible names, great cars. And finally, a people-mover and you can thank the Kia Carnival for changing everybody’s mind about these vans being uncool and making them kind of desirable again. Subaru actually sold a seven-seater people-mover called the Exiga in 2012. It was based on the Liberty wagon, but it was discontinued in 2015 from Australia.Despite people mover sales only representing about one per cent of the total market share Kia still managed to sell 10,080 Carnivals in 2024 — that's a quarter of Subaru's total sales for the same year. Will any of these imaginary Subarus actually happen? Probably not. Well the Brumby small ute is likely. Subaru plans to make more joint venture EVs with Toyota, which also makes sense. Still a Forester XL would be nice.

Toyota’s European bosses are blaming the styling of the Corolla Cross for the small SUV’s struggling sales, despite the vehicle selling well in Australia and other markets.

BYD’s luxury division Denza has revealed specifications for its new, large Ti7 plug-in hybrid SUV which will likely come to Australia when the brand launches here later this year.

Subaru has increased the price of its Crosstrek small SUV which has also gained a new crash safety rating.The Crosstrek, and its Impreza hatchback cousin, have been awarded a five-star ANCAP crash safety rating, on the back of a 2025 model year update that has introduced new tech and a cleaner powertrain for hybrid variants.The Crosstrek's price increase is relatively small at $500 per grade. The line-up now kicks off with the entry grade 2.0L at a list price of $35,990 before on-road costs. Subaru Australia confirmed with CarsGuide the reasons for the cost increase.“Continued increase in costs associated with production and logistics has resulted in a price adjustment for the MY25 Crosstrek range,“ the spokesperson said. “However, we are confident that the Crosstrek range continues to be exceptional value for Australian customers.”The price increase follows the addition of new safety tech, such as traffic sign recognition, and this has resulted in a five-star ANCAP rating for vehicles built from April 2025 and on sale from June 2025. The traffic sign recognition system can now identify No Entry, Give Way and Stop signs.“We are proud to confirm that the model-year 2025 Crosstrek has achieved a maximum five-star ANCAP rating,” Subaru's spokesperson told us. “The latest results highlight the strength of Subaru’s outstanding safety engineering, with the vehicle achieving high scores across key assessment categories. For Subaru, safety is not just part of the package, it’s the foundation. We are proud to see that commitment recognised by ANCAP, reaffirming our focus on offering smarter, safer vehicles for Australians.”Other changes to the Crosstrek’s range includes a petrol-particulate filter for hybrid models due to European emissions standards.“To meet the latest Euro 6e emissions standard, a Gasoline Particulate Filter (GPF) has been introduced to Crosstrek Hybrid models,” the spokesperson said. “The GPF is the latest technology in reducing tailpipe emissions by capturing fine particulate matter from the exhaust. As a result of this update, there has been a minor adjustment to the hybrid variant’s power and torque outputs to ensure optimal performance and compliance.”The hybrid Crosstrek's outputs are now 100kW/182Nm down from 110kW/196Nm.The rest of the standard features list of Subaru Crosstrek remains unchanged with the entry-grade 2.0L coming with 17-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, LED headlights and daytime running lights, dual-zone climate control, a six-speaker stereo, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and an 11.6-inch media screen.The Crosstrek is the second-biggest seller in Subaru's model range, with  4452 sold so far this year. Rivals to the Crosstrek include Hyundai's Kona, Honda's HR-V and the Toyota Corolla Cross.

Ford recalls versions of nearly every model it has sold since 2022.

The Berry family has now spent two months living with the GWM Tank 500 that didn't make the best first impression. So has a second month in this a hybrid off-road vehicle changed or made up their minds?

Kia has just made a surprise confirmation that its new Tasman ute is currently being evaluated by police forces around Australia, and that had us thinking: what police vehicles are out there that aren’t the usual suspects?That's right, we're not talking police versions of the Kia Sorento, nor the Hyundai Tucson, or the Volkswagen Passat and Tiguan. We mean the left-of-field police cars. The ones you really might not have known were out there on the roads.So, with a little bit of help from Australian Police Vehicles Facebook group, here are our top five favourite police cars you might not have seen coming. Hyundai’s big eight-seater SUV is doing some undercover work for Victoria Police. This one spotted recently by Issacc Brown from IB Emergency Photography in the regional Victorian town of Sale happens to be the Calligraphy Black Ink edition of the Palisade. Exclusive to the Calligraphy Black Ink edition are 20-inch black glossy alloy wheels, tough looking dark-tinted radiator grille and black suede seats inside. The Palisade comes with two drivetrains and all-wheel drive which is powered by a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder turbo diesel or a front-wheel drive variant which uses a 3.8-litre V6 petrol. Oooh! NSW Police has got themselves a Chevrolet Suburban RST and this one spotted and snapped by Clinton J Down Photography is serving with the Tactical Operations Unit TOU. The RST grade means the large SUV comes with a 5.3-litre petrol V8, air suspension, 22-inch alloy wheels and luxurious interior features.The TOU role is “the safe resolution of high risk situations without loss of life, injury to persons or damage to property.”While this unmarked SUV is doing its best not to be noticed it’s hard not to miss something so enormous and rare on our roads.The Northern Territory Police are using an unmarked Ford F-150 as seen here snapped by an anonymous poster to the Australian Police Vehicles Facebook.While this full-sized American pickup truck is so large it almost blocks out the sun, it’s looking pretty inconspicuous as a police vehicle. The giveaways that this F-150 is serving on the force are the tiny LED emergency lights integrated subtly into the grille. You’d never know… well, almost.From what we can see this looks like the XLT grade which comes with a 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol engine and part-time four-wheel drive.Here’s one Kia kept quiet - Tasmania’s police has a Carnival people mover on its force as seen here in a photo taken by Taliesan Sharman.We’re big fans of the Carnival at CarsGuide with it not only being practical but great to drive making it the perfect big family car. This one seen here looks like just another suburban family hauler especially with the roof box and awning, but on closer inspection you’ll see emergency LED lights integrated into the grille and radio aerials.  There have been some tough looking police vehicles, but not many can claim to being as tough as a Police Rescue Squad Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series as snapped here by Fleet Street Photography.This is a 2019 70 Series, which sports a 4.5-litre diesel V8 and was only available with a five-speed manual gear box. While more uncomfortable to pilot than a camel, if you did happen to have got yourself into an accident somewhere incredibly remote the chances of one of these vehicles making it to you and getting you out of there is 100 per cent.

Kia has confirmed to CarsGuide its Tasman ute is currently being evaluated by police forces around Australia.