Autos For Us

Happy new year!

We publish a ton of car news stories during the working week (70-odd as a rule), and it can be tough to keep up with everything – which is the rationale behind this weekend list.

In short, here are some key articles from our news desk since Monday of this week summarised, just in case you missed them at the time.

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Results are in!

New vehicle sales grew 3.0 per cent in 2022 despite widely publicised supply issues, finishing up at around 1.08 million units for the calendar year.

Annual sales data (VFACTS) shows that 1,081,429 new cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were delivered in 2022, making it the best result since 2018 when 1,153,111 vehicles were sold.

Industry-wide sales for December 2022 jumped 12.1 per cent, giving the market some momentum heading into the new calendar year.

MORE: Australia’s new car sales results for 2022

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Japanese

Tesla has cut the pricing of its entire range of electric vehicles by up to $3400.

Pricing for the Model 3 sedan has fallen between $1600 and $3100, depending on the variant, with the range now starting at $63,900 before on-road costs for the RWD and extending to $89,900 before on-roads and Luxury Car Tax for the Performance.

Pricing for the Model Y SUV on the other hand has dropped between $1800 and $3400, depending on the variant, with the range now starting at $68,900 before on-road costs for the RWD and extending to $94,900 before on-roads and LCT for the Performance.

This comes around six months after Tesla last increased the asking pricing of the Model 3 and Model Y.

There are also a number of options that have had their prices slashed, including:

• Red multi-coat paint: $2400 (-$500)
• Model 3 19-inch Sport wheels: $1800

BYD’s promised premium sub-brand has launched its first vehicle, the Yangwang U8, a rugged-looking SUV in the mould of the Land Rover Defender – but with four electric motors.

Reports from the launch in China today show an upright design with a blingy grille, headlights rather like a Nissan Patrol, squared-off wheel arches with sheet metal blistering, aerodynamic flush door handles, and a chunky D-pillar ahead of the tailgate-mounted spare wheel.

But rather than being mechanically like a Defender it’s more akin to the upcoming all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQG, though at a reported 5300mm it’s longer even than a GLS.

The new Yangwang U8 will reportedly use an in-house four-motor EV system, using four (IP68 sealed) electric motors to drive each wheel directly and a central control unit.

Such a system theoretically gives you much quicker and more precise torque allocation, and even the ability to pull off a 360-degree

Concept cars. We all love them, both for what they themselves offer and for what they promise.

Last year had some crackers, previewing the next generation of largely electrified and connected vehicles before they hit the road.

From near production-ready glimpses through to moonshot passion projects, here we check out 20 that grabbed our attention – with no more than one per brand.

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Audi A6 Avant e-tron

Revealed March 2022

Audi has been rolling out a series of near-production concept cars, headlined by the A6 Avant e-tron concept, which previews the future of the four-ringed brand’s luxury wagons.

It foreshadows a road-going model with a 800V charging system and 700km driving range, and proves that while SUVs are all the rage, there’s a tomorrow for the humble estate.

MORE: Audi keeps the wagon alive with A6 Avant e-tron EV concept

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BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink

Revealed January 2022

The

Australia is one of the most cluttered car markets in the world, with more than 50 brands fighting for barely a million sales a year.

But even though we’re frankly spoiled for choice, that doesn’t mean we don’t miss out on things that would in all likelihood do great business here.

Often there are reasons why Australian dealers get overlooked: Maybe there’s no business case for right-hand drive production, maybe there’s excessive demand from other regions sucking up all the supply, perhaps local Design Rules throw a spanner in the works.

But hey, let’s have a little fun with it and suggest one vehicle that each of the market’s top 10 brands by sales should bring to Australia, which they presently don’t offer (nor plan to). Yes there are logical explanations, but let’s look past that!

The top 10 brands list is current to the time of writing, meaning January