Car news, 9 Sept ’24: Chery’s electric Omoda E5 priced for Australia, Nissan teases hot Nismo Patrol, and more

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Thanks for joining us this 9 September 2024. Notably in car news today: Chery Australia has announced pricing and specification for its all-electric Omoda E5 SUV, and Nissan has teased that a Y63 Nismo Patrol is in development.

Browse this issue:

• Chery Omoda E5 electric SUV pricing confirmed
• Nissan teases Y63 Patrol Nismo
• Toyota reduces EV targets due to market “slowdown” – report
• Subaru unveils special edition Forester STI Sport 
• Compared: Nissan X-Trail N-Trek and Subaru Forester Sport 

Chery Omoda E5 electric SUV pricing confirmed

• Chery has confirmed pricing for its first fully electric vehicle to launch in Australia, the Omoda E5 midsize SUV.

• Arriving locally in two grades this month, the Omoda E5 will be priced at $42,990 before on-road costs for the entry-level BX and $45,990 before on-road costs for the top-spec EX.

• Both variants are front-wheel drive and share a single electric motor producing 150kW and 340Nm, with a quoted WLTP range of 430km.

• Standard features on the entry-level BX include 12.3-inch touchscreens, 18-inch alloy wheels, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with the EX adding features like a power tailgate, eight-speaker Sony sound system, synthetic leather seats, power sunroof and 360 degree camera. 

Nissan teases Y63 Patrol Nismo

• A high-performance Nismo variant of the new Y63 Nissan Patrol is getting closer to global reveal, and it’s expected to pack a punch. 

• The all-new Y63 Patrol – which won’t land in Aussie showrooms until late 2026 – was unveiled last week, however a Nismo variant is yet to be revealed, nor confirmed for Australia.

• Despite this, the brand’s senior vice president for global design, Alfonso Albaisa, teasing Australian media last week that he “couldn’t sleep for three days” after seeing the design of the new Nismo Patrol, which it has previously confirmed to be developing.

• The current Patrol Nismo makes 320kW/560Nm, or roughly 7 percent more than the standard Y62 Patrol; this means that if the new Y63 Patrol, with 317kW, is turned into a Nismo, we could see around 340kW or 350kW out of the new 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 engine if you apply the percentage difference – not far off the output of a BMW X3 M Competition.

Toyota reduces EV targets due to market “slowdown” – report

• Japanese auto giant Toyota is the latest brand to reduce its EV sales targets as a result of a “slowdown in the global EV market”, according to an overseas report. 

• A report by Nikkei Asia says that the brand will “significantly slow” its production of EVs, with global output forecasts for 2026 cut to one million cars, down about 30 percent from previously announced forecasts.

• The unsoured report says the brand plans to produce approximately 400,000 EVs in 2025 before more than doubling production the following year.

• However, Reuters has since reported that Toyota has made a statement in response to the report, stating there was no change to [Toyota’s] intention to produce 1.5 million EVs per year by 2026 and that the figures were not targets but benchmarks for shareholders.

Subaru unveils special edition Forester STI Sport 

• Subaru has announced the introduction of an STI Sport AWD special edition to its Forester midsize SUV range.

• Arriving locally in late September, the new variant is based on the 2.5i-S AWD and features the same flat-four cylinder powertrain, however receives a host of interior and exterior updates, as well as a bespoke suspension set-up, with both front and rear STI-tuned dampers.

• Outside, the STI Sport AWD will be recognisable thanks to features including dark-grey 18-inch alloy wheels, and black styling components such as the front grille mirror caps, roof rails, fog light garnishes and front and rear guards, as well as STI badging.

• Priced at $48,640 before on-road costs, the variant also features additional features inside including a two-tone Black and Bordeaux colour-scheme, red-stitching and further STI badging. 

Nissan X-Trail N-Trek and Subaru Forester Sport compared

• Chasing Cars contributor Nathan Ponchard’s comparison test between the 2024 Nissan X-Trail N-Trek and Subaru Forester Sport was published, putting the two medium SUVs head-to-head to see which is the most convincing pick.
  
• Almost all soft-road SUVs claim to be adventure-ready vehicles out of the box but the Subaru Forester has for some time been the only option in Australia that adds serious weight to that claim.

• Nowhere is this more true than in the Forester’s ‘Sport’ trim, which adds waterproof cloth seats and a spate of suitable styling for those who want a more rugged SUV.

• However, this recipe has been replicated by Nissan’s new N-Trek grade which is now available in Australia, but is this new rival to the Forester an improvement or an inferior attempt?

The next issue of Car News Today will be published on Tuesday 10 September at 4.30pm Sydney time.