Subaru has unveiled an updated All-Wheel Drive Tribeca at the New York International Auto Show, featuring revised exterior design and new engine.

The updated car is not expected to be on sale in Australia until January 2008.

The U.S. specification Model Year 2008 Tribeca features Subaru’s largest-ever engine, a 3.6 litre horizontally opposed six cylinder that produces 190kW of power and 334 Nm of torque on regular unleaded fuel.

Exterior design is refined and includes a wider and taller grille, new front fenders, bonnet, headlights, rear three-quarter windows, wing mirrors and tail lamps.

The grille is now integrated into the bumper, with the Subaru star cluster emblem a focal point.
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Strong sales across Suzuki Australia’s next-generation model line-up have helped the company break another all-time monthly sales record.

According to the latest VFACTS figures, Suzuki recorded 1,979 sales for the month of March, up 22.9 percent on the same month last year (1,610 sales).

Suzuki Australia also recorded its best ever quarterly sales performance (5,094 sales YTD), resulting in an increase by 28.9 percent (YTD).

The popular Suzuki Swift was the company’s best selling vehicle in March (1,251 sales), and first quarter Swift sales for 2007 are already up 27 percent compared to the same time last year.

“These results are encouraging, and we will continue to build a strong foundation for growth,” said Suzuki Australia general manager Tony Devers.

“Our strategies are to build momentum through aspirational product, and improve the quality and capabilities of our Dealer network, and we’re confident that focusing on these strategies will position Suzuki so that we can attain our overall objectives.”

LOS ANGELES – American Honda, the most fuel efficient car company in the U.S.*, has earned the title of America’s “2007 Greenest Automaker” from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) for the fourth consecutive time.

The award is given by the UCS on a biennial basis to the company with the lowest overall production of smog-forming emissions and global warming emissions (primarily CO2) in its U.S. automobile fleet.

“Honda remains the greenest U.S. automaker. The company installs clean technology across its entire fleet of cars and trucks and that consistency makes it a top environmental performer. Honda is one of only two automakers to have better-than-average global warming scores in every class of vehicles it sold in MY2005,” said Don MacKenzie, a vehicles engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “In addition, Honda continues to have the best smog score in four out of the five classes.”
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Melbourne – Mercedes-Benz has returned a very strong start to 2007 with a first quarter sales performance indicative of a record year to come.

A direct result of the German car maker’s Australian sales and product strategy, the three-pointed star hit an all-time record with 3,622 new passenger car sales in the first three months of the year.

“This is a great performance,” said Horst von Sanden, managing director for the Mercedes Car Group in Australia.

“We have yet to launch the all-new C-Class, we are only just beginning to receive the recently-released CL-Class coupé and our brand has managed to return its best first quarter sales performance in its Australian history.”

The record sales performance was made all the more remarkable given the decreases witnessed in some luxury car segments.

Despite diminishing stock availability in the lead-up to the new model’s release, strong sales of the evergreen C-Class further underlined the popularity of the three-pointed star amongst astute Australian buyers.
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Saab will make a long awaited return to the Perth Motor Show this month after almost a decade, showcasing its new 9-3 Turbo Diesel vehicles for the first time in the state.

The TiD Sport Sedan and SportCombi will be on show, with the TiD Convertible due to arrive at Henley Saab later this month.

A leader in alternative fuels, GM Premium Brands Director, Parveen Batish, says Saab’s dedication to responsible performance will appeal to Australians who care about their impact on the environment.

“This year Saab has launched its new extremely economical turbo diesel vehicles, including Australia’s first diesel convertible,” Mr Batish said.
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Audi Australia has finished the first quarter of 2007 with an all-time record result of 1,931 units.

Managing director, Joerg Hofmann, says the result is ‘outstanding’ and equates to a 41 percent increase over YTD March 2006 results.

“During the month of March, we sold 618 cars, a 34 percent increase compared with the same month last year,” Mr Hofmann said.

“In summary, we finished the first quarter in 2007 with sales 41 percent ahead of last year, making Audi the fastest growing luxury car brand in Australia.”

Strong performers in the Australian market included the new Audi TT and the Q7 SUV.
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Record March sales of 7140 retails has extended Mazda’s leadership as Australia’s top-selling import brand to 3289 vehicles over its closest full-line import rival, according to VFACTS figures.

Mazda’s benchmark March performance enabled the car maker to push through the 7000 sales barrier for the first time.

The March result surpassed Mazda’s previous record of 6627 retails (set in January 2007) by 7.7 per cent, or 513 vehicles. This is a hefty 25 per cent up on the same month last year (5706 sales).

Strong year-to-date sales have secured the company its best ever quarterly sales performance of 20,132 vehicles, smashing its previous quarterly benchmark set in 2005 (17,631 sales).

Mazda has achieved a year-to-date market share of 7.9 per cent, an improvement of 0.8 percentage points over the first three months of last year.

The benchmark March performance produced a number of records for individual models with the Mazda2 reaching its best-ever monthly result with 732 sales, while the company’s commercial utility range, led by the new BT-50, also set a new high with 789 sales.

The Mazda3 sedan and hatch was the company’s best seller, posting a new March sales record with 3182 sales and 15.7 per cent of the small car market.

The all-new SUV crossover, the CX-7, went from strength-to-strength last month retailing 775 vehicles, almost 200 sales up on its February total. Combined sales of the CX-7 and Tribute delivered Mazda’s best-ever SUV sales month.

Mazda’s Y-T-D share of the SUV market has reached 5.3 per cent compared with 2.1 per cent last year.

Mazda6, with 1232 sales and 18.2 per cent segment share, was again the top-selling import in the sub $60,000 Medium segment, while Mazda’s sports cars each passed 100 sales last month (MX-5 133 sales and RX-8 107 sales).

Doug Dickson, managing director of Mazda Australia said: “Obviously we are delighted with our March performance, with more Australians than ever before choosing to buy one of our award-winning Stylish, Insightful and Spirited vehicles.

“All of us at Mazda Australia and our dealer network appreciate our customer’s support and we will continue to further improve the ownership experience as we work towards selling about 68,000 vehicles this year”.

“Our record start to 2007 has Mazda very well placed to achieve this benchmark retail performance”.

The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the new smart fortwo got off to a flying sales start throughout Western Europe last weekend. In Germany, dealers registered the highest number of visitors ever in their showrooms with a total of 470,000 existing and potential customers heading in to experience the two models. 75,000 orders have been received for the new C-Class sedan at the time of its market launch. At the same time, 45,000 customers have placed their orders for the new two-seater from smart.

“We are extremely delighted with the successful launch of the two new products and the very positive response from our customers,” said Dr. Klaus Maier, Executive Vice President Mercedes Car Group, responsible for Sales and Marketing.
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Honda Australia set an all-time monthly sales record in March with 5,936 sales and a first quarter record of 15,728 sales.

According to official VFACTS figures, the company’s year-to-date market share stands at 6.2 per cent, compared with 5.2 per at the same time last year. Year to date sales are up by 2,882 over 2006.

Honda’s Thai-sourced models again stood out as the top performers, with Civic (1,611) and Jazz (773) selling well. The new CR-V found 1,454 buyers in its first full month on sale.

Honda Australia Senior Director Lindsay Smalley said Honda was well on its way to achieving its target of 60,000 sales for 2007.

The all new Suzuki Grand Vitara has scored an impressive safety rating in the latest round of official testing in the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).

The popular four-wheel-drive Grand Vitara achieved a four star rating for adult occupant protection and a three star rating for child occupant protection, ranking it amongst the top of its class in safety performance.

Suzuki’s Grand Vitara also received a three-star pedestrian rating from a possible four stars, making Suzuki only the third compact off-roader to be awarded three stars, the highest pedestrian rating awarded in this category.

“We are clearly delighted with the results the Grand Vitara has achieved in these independent safety tests,” said Tony Devers, General Manager of Suzuki Australia.

“The European NCAP results are the benchmark for safety standards around the world, and Australian customers can hold these results in high regard.”
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Subaru’s sophisticated new generation All-Wheel Drive Impreza will be unveiled to the world at the New York International Auto Show.

The stylish small car has a cosmopolitan new image that will expand its appeal to a far broader audience.

The roomiest-ever Impreza will be launched as a five-door hatch in Australia in September, with four-door sedan versions to follow a year later.

In Australia, new generation Impreza will come in both normally-aspirated and turbocharged variants, targeted to broaden appeal to different consumer and driving needs.

The normally aspirated Impreza will be the volume model, directly targeted at the premium European hatches, but with all the benefits of Japanese technology and reliability.

Impreza is designed with elegance and sophistication in mind. It will have the additional benefit of superior sporty handling and the confidence of All-Wheel Drive as a standard feature, as well as a comprehensive standard specification list that might normally be associated with high end medium or large cars.
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