Richard Bosselman

Peugeot 4007: SUV with shove

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:36:17 -0800

Here's something I haven't heard from a car distributor since the market went into freefall - an admission that demand for a new product has been underestimated.

Although October has proven to be a reasonable month for car sales, expectation overall is that just 55,000-57,000 passenger models will be registered this year - the lowest count in decades.

So, yes, Peugeot New Zealand's admission yesterday was a surprise. ...

Ferrari fun park every big kid's dream

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:43:27 -0800

Forget Rainbow's End and your Gold Coast funparks. Disneyland? Pah, not even comparable. They're kids' stuff.

No, the only theme park that'll matter is the only one that the little tikes mightn't even get to see, due to the crush of adult fans - it's Ferrari World. ...

Driven to desire

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:54:26 -0800

Two hours into our five-day adventure and things are starting to go wrong.

The drive to Wellington from our Manawatu home has gone smoothly. The forecast poor weather seems to have blown through the previous night. When we arrive at the quayside, the sun's out, the sky's blue and while there are whitecaps out there, it really doesn't seem so bad. And it isn't ... in the harbour.

Out in Cook's Strait, a different story. ...

'New' Jeep already set for chop?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:01:57 -0800

Like the look of the freshened Jeep Patriot soft-roader that's presently relaunching here?

If so, best not to muck about with your deliberations. In a strange twist that could only befall a US brand, the car that has just been given a new lease of life here might be just a day from being sentenced to death row. ...

Cadenza not on NZ songsheet ... yet

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:41:54 -0800

An Italian musical term used to describe an elaborate, ornamental flourish - and also the name of a heavily-ornamented, V6-engined luxury large car, revealed with a flourish by Kia.

That's the Cadenza, and while this 3.5-litre sedan not on Kia New Zealand's song sheet just at the moment, there's potential for it - or something similar - in the marketplace, brand boss Todd McDonald says.

Smarter Sorento on new track

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:12:12 -0800

Prefer your Sorento hard or soft; rough or smooth? If your allegiances are for a slightly rough-edged but dependable big toughie, then the previous version of Kia's off-roader will hold more appeal.

Such was the view of my lunch partner at the launch of the 2010 Sorento, held in Queensland the other day. ...

To boldly go

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:37:27 -0800

Page 242 of the Bible-sized handbook for the Lexus RX450h could not outline the car's mud-plugging status more plainly: "Your vehicle is not designed to be driven off-road."

Which is odd. Because the next few pages of the guide are given over to what precautions the driver might consider when he or she does muck in. Weird.

To paraphrase, it says you can play in the dirt, but with a lot of care. And no going near the water. ...

Suzuki returns to small time

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:37:19 -0800

How to make a buck from particularly small cars? The blunt assessment from most makers is that they cannot. The general consensus is that the New Zealand new car environment is fatally hostile to tiddlers.

Basically, anything above 1.2-litres has a chance. Anything under probably doesn't.

It's not a theory accepted by Suzuki New Zealand, obviously. ...

Koup joins Kia style drive

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:56:47 -0800

Slip into the Kia Cerato Koup expecting it to be a Korean Celica equivalent and you're going to be disappointed, the brand concedes.

"Cerato Koup has not been designed as a a tarmac burner," Kia New Zealand boss Tod McDonald warned yesterday before we slipped behind the wheel for an afternoon drive out of the swank Hyatt Coolum resort up-coast of Brisbane.

"But it has been designed to give better performance than the sedan. ...