Some of us rang in the new year with a champagne toast with loved ones, or watched the fireworks. One man in New South Wales’ Mid North Coast region instead chose a high-speed police chase. According to the NSW Police Force, Mid North Coast Highway Patrol officers were patrolling Plummers Lane in Rainbow Beach just after the clock struck midnight when they detected a Kia Rio travelling at 127km/h in an 80km/h zone. When police signalled for the 23-year-old male driver to stop, he allegedly didn’t and instead led them on a pursuit reaching 150km/h, before hitting 170km/h in a…

The Ford Everest V6 could be the next police car you see in your rear-view mirrors. Victoria Police has added Everest Sport models to its fleet, with the V6-powered SUVs being used by both the State Highway Patrol and Drug and Alcohol units. A spokesperson for Victoria Police told CarExpert a total of seven Everests are now in use, with two of those replacing Toyota LandCruisers for towing and off-road duties. “State Highway Patrol have added two Ford Everest Sport 4×4 V6 vehicles to its fleet, which will be used predominantly by our Solo Unit in an off-road capacity and…

The interior of the Volkswagen ID. Polo has been unveiled ahead of the electric light car’s full unveiling some time this year. According to Volkswagen, the cabin has been “systematically optimised based on customer feedback”, referring to the negative feedback the company about the ID.3, and subsequent electric and combustion models. One of the big complaints was the use of capacitive buttons on the steering wheel and elsewhere. While recent new models and facelifts have addressed this problem, the ID. Polo goes a step further by debuting a new two-spoke steering wheel design with up to 11 buttons on each…

The Kia EV3 is an award-winning electric vehicle (EV), and for good reason. This compact and likeable little EV is a real looker. It has presence and style, and there’s a heap of features and comfort on offer inside, as well as surprisingly good practicality. But I’m not convinced that the value-for-money equation stacks up quite as well as it could in this top-spec small electric SUV – especially considering some of the competitors in the EV space today. How much does the Kia EV3 cost? The Kia EV3 is relatively affordable… if you’re not considering the top-spec flagship. This…

The rotary engine will make a comeback, but it won’t be coming from the brand most recognised for using it in high-performance cars, Mazda, instead emerging from a Chinese manufacturer. According to Carscoops, China’s Changan Automobile Group, which developed the Mazda 6e due in Australia in mid-2026 through its joint venture with the Japanese brand, has confirmed it will produce a single-rotor internal combustion engine from 2027. It won’t be in a road car, however, with the 53kW rotary planned for a low-altitude aircraft, and a more potent twin-rotor version under development offering more than twice the power. Changan will…

Mitsubishi has teased its upcoming SUV based on the Triton ute, which many believe will resurrect the Pajero nameplate. The video (below) released on New Year’s Day celebrates the company’s rally and racing heritage, and includes shots of the Lancer Evolution, Pajero Evolution and various Dakar vehicles. The meat of the video is of the current Triton Ralliart competing in the Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR). At the end, Mitsubishi’s new SUV makes a shadowy appearance. The headlight graphics match up with the company’s latest design, and the overall styling matches spy photos taken in the middle of 2025. Those…

Some automakers’ design choices are never mimicked, while others become so trendy every other brand rushes to follow suit. Be it massive touchscreens, capacitive ‘switchgear’ or designs that came straight out of I, Robot, there’s always something ‘new’ that feels like we’ve seen it before. Here are some of the automotive trends the CarExpert team would like to leave in 2025. Alborz Fallah: Stop putting the Tesla-like car display in the instrument cluster I want to see car companies stop putting the Tesla-esque assistance display in the instrument cluster. I don’t need to have a computer tell me what cars…

Production of the current-generation Volkswagen T-Roc R has wrapped up, but that’s not to say it’s forbidden fruit until the next-generation small SUV rocks up. So far, the T-Roc has existed for only one generation, and it has been with us in Australia since 2020 despite entering production in 2017. The high-performance T-Roc R flagship, meanwhile, was rolled out overseas in 2019, followed by its Australian debut as part of a 2022 model year range. Effectively a jacked-up Golf, the T-Roc has quickly become one of Volkswagen Australia’s most popular models. So far in 2025, it’s been outsold by only…

Perhaps your New Year’s resolution was to finally get a new car. Well, allow us to steer you in the right direction. As more and more auto brands flood the Australian market, some cars are increasingly finding themselves trying to keep above water. Not every car can sell as well as a Toyota Prado or HiLux, but some of these vehicles are selling well below what we’d expect. That means you can buy something you won’t see on every street corner, and potentially score a good deal in the process. For this exercise, we looked at models that had market…