Australia: 
HSV has announced a new addition to the luxury and performance garage with confirmation that a HSV ’Tourer’ will be launched later this year. The HSV Tourer will be on sale from October, with specifications similar to the ClubSport R8. Price and final specifications will be confirmed closer to start of sale. The Tourer will be powered by the new LS3 engine, which is now standard across the HSV V8 fleet. 
GM Holden will unveil its new value-packed VE Ute 60th Anniversary Special Editionat the National 4x4 Show in Brisbane this week.
Adding to an already impressive list of standard features including ESP® and 18-inch alloy wheels, the VE Ute 60th Anniversary Special Edition boasts over $2,000# of extra value, including leather faced seats and alloy foot pedals.
Based on the popular SV6 model in Holden’s award winning VE Ute range, the VE Ute 60th Anniversary Special Edition includes the following additional features:
- Onyx leather seat trim
- Bluetooth® connectivity for compatible mobile phones
- Sports profile steering wheel
- 6 disc in dash MP3 compatible CD player
- Alloy foot pedals
- 60th Anniversary floor mats
- 60th Anniversary badge on rear tailgate
>> read 
Modern and dynamic styling, seven seats standard in every model, Electronic Stability Program (ESP) standard in every model, European-standard ride and handling, the versatility and seating positions of an SUV, flexible seating arrangements, 5-year/unlimited kilometre warranty for private buyers, great value and a low entry price - the all-new Kia Rondo 7 is a car without equal in the Australian car market.
Rondo 7 is being launched initially with a 2.0-litre version of the same smooth-revving ’Theta’ four-cylinder engine that powers the 2.4-litre Kia Magentis, mated to either a five-speed manual (in LX trim) or Kia’s optional Sport Mode ’intelligent’ four-speed Tiptronic-style automatic transmission.
The twin-cam, four-cylinder 2.0-litre ’Theta’ petrol engine, with continuously variable valve timing (CVVT), produces 142 hp @ 6,000rpm and 189 Newton metres of torque @ 4,250rpm. The Rondo 7’s 2.0-litre petrol engine is a state-of-the-art four-cylinder 16-valve unit that is powerful, quiet and economical. Weight-saving measures include a die-cast aluminium block and a plastic cylinder head cover and intake manifold. All three models of Rondo 7 - LX, EX and EX Limited - are also available with a four-speed automatic transmission (extra-cost option in LX), fitted with Kia’s Sport Mode system which offers drivers the choice of fully-automatic gear changes or driver-controlled sequential manual selection. >> read 2008 Kia Rondo 7 Picture Gallery /BOUCLE_root>.

Mazda Australia today whipped the covers off its brand new Mazda3 MPS rally car ahead of its motorsport debut at next week’s Targa Tasmania.
Australia’s top-selling importer will unleash two Mazda3 MPS rally cars on the country’s pre-eminent tarmac endurance event, held from April 15-20. Professional rally drivers Rick Bates and Alister McRae will spearhead the company’s eighth Targa campaign.
Built under the watchful eye of Mazda Motorsport chief Allan Horsley, the 190kW Mazda3 MPS front-wheel-drive hot hatches will contest the event’s 2WD Showroom competition, travelling 2000km over five gruelling days of competition.
The team’s preparation for the rally commenced this week with Bates, McRae and co-drivers arriving in Tasmania to survey the course. Before the event starts next Tuesday both Bates and McRae will have driven all the daunting stages twice.
>> read 2008 Mazda3 MPS Rally Car Picture Gallery /BOUCLE_root>.
Holden announced today that its special vehicles range also known as HSV will receive the new GM LS3 engine. The 6.2 liter V8 engine capable of developing 425 hp at 6000rpm will be available in dealerships from April. The engine is currently used on the Chevrolet Corvette but it will also fit the new Pontiac GXP.
Although the engine increased its power it also delivers a slight fuel economy improvement using 14.5ltr/100km in manual mode and 14.4ltr/100km in automatic mode. The HSV cars will also receive new 20 inch wheel option available for $2500 and new colour pallete. >> read 
More than 160 BMW GS customers took to the back roads of the New South Wales and Victorian High Country regions for the annual Australian BMW Safari. Despite this being the first week of autumn ’Down Under’, participants were treated with weather conditions more akin to mid-summer.
A huge variety of BMW adventure sport bikes were in attendance - the majority of them current or recent models - and all of them handled the tricky conditions with ease.
The most popular BMW motorcycle in (...) >> read 
Holden Special Vehicles today unveiled a seven litre program at the Melbourne Motor Show, the last instalment of the company s 20th anniversary celebrations. The car to be known in its final development stages as the W427 is finished in the same Panorama Silver paint scheme as the original Group A SS VL Commodore, released at the Melbourne Motor Show of 1988, exactly 20 years ago.
HSV Managing Director, Scott Grant, said the W427 was a tribute to how far the company has come in just twenty years. "To be able to produce a vehicle of these proportions is truly remarkable," Scott Grant said.
"The W427 will be quite possibly the fastest road registrable Supercar ever produced in Australia and among the quickest anywhere around the world," he said. While power output figures are still to be confirmed, the W427 is likely to produce in excess of 370kW of power and 640NM of torque.
>> read 
GM Holden released pricing for the all-new VE Sportwagon at the Melbourne International Motor Show today, adding great value to its list of attractive features. The 2008 VE Sportwagon range starts from as little as $37,790 # for Omega, with each of the seven models only $1,000 more than their VE sedan equivalent.
At $41,290, the new VE Sportwagon Berlina is an amazing $5,600 less than its VZ wagon equivalent whilst offering a range of engineering advances and safety features including Electronic Stability Program (ESP ® ) , Rear Park Assist and six airbags which are standard across the range. Having more than doubled the model range from three in VZ to seven in VE, the new Sportwagon offers buyers more choice and more features to further enhance its appeal to both private and business customers. >> read 
Proton will give Australia a sneak preview of its next generation hot hatch when it unveils the Proton R3 Satria at the Melbourne International Motor Show on February 29.
The R3 Satria has been developed by Proton’s special vehicles and motorsport arm - R3, which stands for Race, Rally, and Research - at its headquarters in Shah Alam in Malaysia.
R3 is headed up by former Lotus engineer and prominent Malaysia race driver Tengku Djan Ley. The R3 Satria combines a range of special body enhancements as well as suspension development and a high performance power plant, to give the Satria Neo a true edge in the hot hatch arena.
At this stage the R3 Satria is still in development and no on sale date has been decided however the R3 division is working to bring the performance model to market as soon as possible.
>> read 
BMW Australia today revealed the Z4 Edition Sport, a new limited edition that will go on sale for a price of $78,200 for the Z4 2.5si Roadster, $88,100 for the Z4 3.0si Coupe and $91,400 for the Z4 3.0si Roadster. The limited edition models add significant extra equipment at the same price as regular Z4 2.5si and 3.0si models, enhancing the appeal of ownership via carefully selected colour and trim combinations as well as, in the Edition Sport, M Sport seats and an M Steering wheel.
The Edition Sport offers the choice of BMW Individual Bi-colour New England leather covering the M sport seats as well as Individual Bi-colour interior trim in combinations including Estoril Blue Dark / Anthracite / Black, Phoenix Yellow / Anthracite / Black, Silverstone / Anthracite / Black and Imola Red / Anthracite / Black. On the inside the Edition Sport comes with BMW Individual leather interior trim finishers, M sport seats and an M leather steering wheel. For the exterior, the Edition Sport offers a choice between Titanium Silver, Black Sapphire, Montego Blue, Space Grey and the previously unreleased Carbon Black. Press release after jump. >> read Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 next > >>
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