Every important car news story breaking today, one convenient read
Thanks for joining us this Monday, January 20th 2025. Notably in car news today: Mazda’s new-gen CX-5 hybrid starts to take shape ahead of its arrival later this year, and Honda says it wants Renault out of Nissan before it forms an alliance.
Details emerge for next-gen Mazda CX-5 series-parallel hybrid powertrain
Mazda’s third-generation of its CX-5, one of the most popular midsize SUVs in Australia, is looking ever likely to arrive next year with a self-charging hybrid option.
According to Japan’s BestCarWeb two patent documents surfaced in December reinforcing long-standing rumours about Mazda’s in-house developed hybridpowertrain as reported by Chasingcars back in September 2024.
The patents reveal a horizontally arranged four-cylinder engine with two electric motors mounted at one end: one for drive, another in the power generation section. Like a good many rival systems, Mazda’s can provide drive via electric motor, internal combustion, or the two combined at the same time in a front-drive configuration.
While the bestcarweb story also suggests a “delayed” 2026 release of the CX-5 hybrid globally, it’s expected to be at least unveiled to the public sometime before the end of this year.
Honda asks Nissan to buy out its Renault shares before merger
Honda has asked Nissan to consider buying out the 35.7 percent share stakehold Renault currently holds in the Japanese business as part of a proposed merger.
The shares, worth approximately ¥557 billion yen (around $AU5.8 billion) would be a huge cost to Nissan that it is likely unable to afford.
Honda said to outlet Bloomberg that the request is said to be less to do with bad blood between the companies and more due to the stability of the merging process.
It comes after an unnamed high-ranking Nissan official told the Financial Times that Nissan had 12 to 14 months to live under its current dire situation.
Mitsubishi may also become part of the merger, with the much smaller Japanese brand to declare its official interest by the end of January this year.
Mitsubishi’s Colt not under consideration for Australia
Mitsubishi Motor Australia has confirmed the European market Colt is not being considered for the Australia market, after announcing it would adopt the region’s ASX small SUV later this year.
The ASX is a rebadged Renault Captur, obtained under the current Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Similarly, the Mitsubishi Colt is a rebadged Renault Clio.
While Mitsubishi has for many years focused on utes, SUVs and 4×4 wagons, there is still a significant appetite for small cars – albeit, on a generally decreasing margin.
That said, in 2024 market share for small cars accounting for 7.6 percent, up from the 6.9 percent recorded for the year prior
Genesis’ largest ‘showcase’ retail space opens in Sydney
Genesis Australia is set to open its new flagship ‘showcase’ retail space, dubbed Genesis Sydney, in Concord NSW on January 29th.
Genesis Sydney will become the brand’s largest retail space in Australia, the seventh outlet in the brand’s local retail network which includes two ‘studios’, in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as other ‘showcase’ facilities in Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth.
According to Genesis, the ‘showcase’ is a Korean concept intended to go “beyond the traditional car showrooms” by using bold architecture and design elements with a “stylish, minimalist environment”.
Genesis Sydney will feature a static display of the GV60 Magma Concept, the debut high-performance model due to make production later this year, as part of the venue’s opening celebrations.
2025 Ford Ranger Wildtrak vs Mitsubishi Triton GSR compared
Chasing Cars production specialist Tom Place’s and journalist Zak Adkins’ comparison of their two respective long termers, the Mitsubishi Triton GSR and the Ford Ranger Wildtrak V6 was published. With the pair aiming to find out if the Ranger could justify its circa-$17K price premium.
Off-road testing exposed the Triton’s superiority in this area, with more sophisticated traction control providing the edge over the Ranger.
However, in just about every other metric, the Ranger reigned supreme. As would be expected, for that price.
Ultimately, the pair concluded on different winners, with Zak declaring he would still stick with the well-honed Ranger platform, even if he had to buy a base XL to match the Triton’s circa-$66k price tag. Tom found Triton’s inherent capability and generous specifications to be more appealing for the price.
