WhichCar weekly wrap: automotive news recapped

The year may be ramping down, but there’s no shortage of big news.

Word breaking that Holden will finally retire the Commodore nameplate from next year sent us down a nostalgia hole and raised a lot more questions, such as ‘Where to for Holden in Supercars’ and ‘The implications for owners and buyers in 2020’. We also tracked the Commodore’s demise in numbers and pondered what could potentially be Holden’s saving grace; the incoming Corvette or something from the Cadillac catalogue.

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We also caught wind of proposals for certain councils in Victoria to reduce speed limits in a bid to reduce the skyrocketing road toll, discussed a lesser-known pollutant found in car aircon that’s more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide and came across plans for a new motorsport hub situated in just outside Melbourne – hope the neighbours don’t mind!

Looking into the future, Audi is experimenting with supplying its factory line workers with Iron Man-style exoskeletons, and Jeep outlined its plan that would see its entire line-up electrified come 2022.

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There was plenty to talk about in terms of reveals, with Audi facelifting its RS5 performance sedan and coupe twins, Ferrari putting on a show for the local debut of its most powerful road car ever, SF90 Stradale, and the hype keeps on building around Hyundai’s entrant to the dual-cab ute space.

Contrary to the dual-cab market which continues to explode in popularity prompting cars like the Jeep Gladiator, Honda can’t seem to find a way for its new Jazz to enter the tough passenger car market. We’ll just have to wait to see whether Australia will lose yet another respected nameplate.

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It was a busy week for new car launches as we got behind the wheel of the fastest Mini to grace our lands, the Mini JCW Clubman, took a brief spin in the style-oriented Porsche Cayenne Coupe, had our first look at the Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior off-road hero, enjoyed a run in Honda’s new Accord and we detailed a recent trip to Mt. Fuji in Land Rover’s Disco 5.

We had a few audience-engaging spicy opinions to share, one of which addressed the emotional side of the Holden and Australia relationship, one that asked why the Commodore name was allowed to kick on after local manufacturing ended and another that looked at the detrimental impact of the dual-cab craze.