Winter auto news 2025
We wrap up the latest developments in the car world, including the Nissan Patrols 250,000th Australian delivery and the latest developments for EV's.
Magnificent seven
One of Australia’s biggest, burliest and most capable 4WD wagons, the Nissan Patrol, recently chalked up its 250,000th Australian delivery, marking an incredible milestone in the model’s 64-year Australian journey.
The current V8-powered Y62 Patrol landed here way back in 2013 but continues to provide staunch opposition to its far-fresher rival: the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, which launched in late 2021. Despite its advancing years, last year’s tally of 8293 sales was the Y62’s best yet and the best Patrol performance since 2004. The results will encourage Nissan Australia that the all-new seventh-generation Y63 Patrol, due in late 2026 or early 2027, will carry the fight even deeper into LandCruiser country.
Already on sale in the Middle East, the new Patrol boasts unmissable road presence and a raft of new technologies, including a twin turbocharged 3.5-litre petrol V6, derived from the Nissan GT-R sports car, and developing a muscular 317kW/700Nm. That’s 7 per cent more power and 25 per cent more torque than the current model’s 5.6-litre petrol V8 (298kW/560Nm), and the V6 is also 24 per cent more fuel efficient than the V8.
The Y63 promises to be smoother and more responsive too, thanks to a new nine-speed automatic transmission boasting six different drive modes, plus adaptive air suspension and new e-damper technology that should ensure plush on-road ride comfort and enhanced all-terrain capability.
Thats heavy
Tired of having sand kicked in its face by locally re-engineered full-size American pick-ups like the RAM and its own F-150, Ford Australia is taking the load-hauling fight to its rivals by introducing a new heavy-duty variant of its best-selling Ranger ute.
Dubbed the Ranger Super Duty, the new workhorse is due in early 2026 and will boast greater load-hauling and towing capacity than the regular Ranger and 4WD dual-cab rivals, including the Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max. Ford says the Super Duty has been developed to deliver the higher levels of Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM), Gross Combination Mass (GCM), towing capacity and off-road capability required by the likes of farmers, miners, forestry workers and emergency service operators. This translates to a 4500kg braked towing capacity, 4500kg GVM and 8000kg GCM, easily exceeding the specifications of the most workhorse-oriented variant in the current line-up, the Ranger XL, with its 3500kg maximum braked towing capacity, 3230kg GVM and 6350kg GCM.
Ford has been slowly releasing information on the new model, including teaser images, but no pricing. The company has revealed the new ute will feature a heavy-duty eight-stud wheel pattern similar to that used on the US-market F-250 Super Duty, along with 18-inch steel wheels and 33-inch all-terrain tyres.
The Ranger Super Duty has been developed by Ford’s IMG product development team based in Australia and will be manufactured in Thailand for sale in markets around the world.
On a charge
BYD changes the game with new battery technology that will see EVs recharge in around the same time it takes to refuel a combustion-powered car.
Chinese car maker BYD says its new Super e-Platform can charge at speeds of up to 1000kW using its own ultra-fast DC chargers, 4000 of which it is currently rolling out across China. When connected to these “flash-charging stations”, BYD’s latest lithium-ion-phosphate Blade Battery can add up to 400km of range in about five minutes.
BYD founder Wang Chuanfu declared the technology would “fundamentally solve users’ charging anxiety”. The fastest DC charging speed currently available in Australia is 350kW, with the Electric Vehicle Council reporting there were 379 ultra-fast chargers (100kW+) dotted around the country in 2024, including six in Tasmania.
BYD’s new Super e-Platform will underpin two new models due to be released in China later this year, but there’s no word on when or if the technology will make its way Down Under. Despite this, the world’s biggest electric car maker continues to make strong inroads into the local market, with the company recently passing the 40,000 sales milestone less than three years after its launch, including a record-breaking month in February driven by strong uptake of its Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute.
