Five cars that should/could make it to New Zealand
Thursday, 16 June 2016
Yes, we know that when it comes to motor vehicle selection, we in New Zealand are spoiled for choice.
Not only is there an extraordinarily wide range of vehicles available for purchase new, but there are also all sorts of used cars pouring in from Japan.
But, it seems that every time we head overseas on a motoring assignment, we spot vehicles that have us wondering how they would sell if they were ever offered for sale in our country.
So here for your consideration are five cars that could/should be sold in New Zealand.
Dacia Duster
What a great name for a compact SUV. It's also appropriate in more ways than one, because the Duster is essentially the result of the Romanian car-maker dusting off the shelves of owner Renault and its alliance partner Nissan, and using componentry from both brands in the vehicle's creation. In fact, in Europe the Duster is sold as a Dacia, in other parts of the world it is sold as a Renault.
In the UK, the Duster is marketed as 'shockingly affordable'. And it is too, with prices starting at £9495 which converts to less than NZ$20,000. Mind you, if you did purchase the entry Access model you'd be in for a few shocks in different ways - because the model is so basic it doesn't even have a radio. But the good news is that Duster can be purchased with four further levels of specification: Ambiance, Ambiance Prime, Laureate, and Prestige.
Would you buy a small SUV offered with 1.6-litre petrol or 1.5-litre diesel power, five-speed manual transmission only, and at the entry level no radio and certainly no niceties such as air conditioning? We suspect there might be a market for it, especially if the UK's shockingly affordable prices could also be exported to New Zealand. You'd just have to wind down the windows in summer and sing to yourself.
Ford C-Max
Yes, we know that New Zealanders view MPVs with some distain, dismissing them as so-called 'loser-cruisers' - an apparent reference to commitments to young family duties. That's sad, because there are some rather good MPVs out there - and one model that we don't get, but maybe should, is the Ford C-Max.
This vehicle is essentially a big Ford Focus. In the UK it can be purchased either as a five-seater C-Max or as a seven-seater Grand C-Max. It's available with various levels of specification and with a choice of engines that range from the excellent 1.0-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost unit to larger 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre petrol and diesel powerplants.
The S-Max will probably never come here, primarily because we as a market simply don't like MPVs. Many Brits would probably tell us that we don't know what we're missing.
Honda Mobilio
Travel to holiday destinations in various parts of Asia and you're likely to spot this Honda pretty well right away. It's the latest-generation Mobilio, which is either a mini-MPV or a mini-SUV (your choice) and assembled in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and India.
The first-generation Mobilio did make it to New Zealand as a used import because it was built in Japan. It was a very boxy vehicle that was powered by a 1.5-litre engine. We don't think there are any of the second-generation models here, because it is not built in Japan. But the little car does cut quite a figure in places such as Bali, where there seems to be hundreds of them threading their way along the streets.
We don't have any idea if Mobilio could be imported to New Zealand, but we do think it would nicely slot into the Honda lineup underneath the slightly larger HRV - almost as an SUV/MPV version of the Jazz hatch.
Mazda CX-4
We're told by the good people at Mazda New Zealand that this vehicle is almost certain not to be built in right-hand drive, so can never come here. We're not so sure. Ever since the vehicle was unveiled as a China-only model at last month's Beijing Motor Show, motoring journalists from many other countries have been writing strong words in favour of the CX-4 selling elsewhere as well.
It must be a lovely position for a car maker to find itself in - quietly sitting back and considering such argument.
Here's our opinion. We first spotted the vehicle at last year's Frankfurt Motor Show when it was displayed as the Koeru Concept, and we enjoyed its striking lines. We weren't at Beijing, but we have enjoyed the photos from the unveiling. The CX-4 is essentially an SUV-cum-coupe that is built off the very popular CX-5, and we are certain that if it ever did get built in right-hand drive, it would do well in New Zealand. Come on Mazda - we want one.
Vauxhall Adam
We love this little city car. Built by the German car manufacturer Opel and sold in the UK as a Vauxhall, it is named after the company's founder Adam Opel.
The three-door hatch is offered in three different trim levels and a wide choice of exterior colours and interior decors - so many in fact that there are said to be more than 61,000 exterior and 82,000 interior combination possibilities.
We enjoy Vauxhall's marketing blurb about this car. It tells us that the Adam comes in three 'cool' flavours - the funky Adam Jam, the head-turning Adam Glam, and the wild Adam Slam. There's also a performance-oriented Adam S, and even a higher-riding crossover version called Adam Rocks. Not only that, but an R2 version of the Adam has competed in this year's European Rally Championship.
So with names like that, how could the Adam miss if it were imported to New Zealand? The reality is that we'll probably never know, because if it did come here it would have to be sold as a Holden and it would compete directly against the Korean-built Barina Spark.