Car Care Products

Alfa MiTo

Named for Milano and Torino, the two Italian cities in which Alfa Romeo is based, the MiTo aims to recapture some of the flair and appeal of the original Alfasud of the 1970s. If, in doing so, it snares market share from the MINI and other Euro competitors like the Renault Clio 197 and the Peugeot 207 GTi, so much the better.

Ateco Automotive is aiming to shake up the local hot-hatch market when it introduces Alfa Romeo’s MINI rival, the MiTo, “it is enormously important to Alfa Romeo as it takes us into a whole new market sector,” says Edward Butler, General Manager for Alfa Romeo in Australia.

“Although Alfa Romeo has had small cars, starting with the legendary AlfaSud through to its modern successor, the Alfa Romeo 147, the Alfa MiTo is not just in the sector below the 147, it is focused totally on being a performance and style driven mini-Coupe, not compromised by things like having to have a five door version. This has enabled Alfa Romeo’s acclaimed stylists to produce a car that as a purity of shape that has not been seen before.”

Australian pricing for the Alfa Romeo MiTo is a closely guarded secret, but the local Alfa Romeo distributor has revealed that the new car will arrive in two levels of trim and powered by two turbocharged engines. One is expected to be a 1.6-litre turbodiesel developing 88kW of power and the other is reportedly a 114kW 1.4-litre petrol turbo engine. Both engines will be coupled to six-speed manual transmissions and the front-wheels will be driven through an electronic differential that acts like a limited-slip differential.

GM Astra

The wraps came off the new Opel-designed Astra hatch this week ahead of its debut at September’s Frankfurt motor show but the small car faces an uncertain future locally.

GM-Holden is currently reviewing its small car line-up, which means the newest Astra may not have a future in Holden’s Australian lineup, particularly given the imminent arrival of the petrol and turbo-diesel Cruze sedan, which arrives in GM-Holden dealers next month.

The company has halted imports of the current Astra for two months because of currency fluctuations and speculated pricing problems with Opel, the European arm of General Motors.

GM-Holden executives say there is room for both models but the Astra needs a favourable business case to be profitable.

The Astra is GM-Holden’s most popular small car and most popular car after the Commodore. In the UK it accounts for 30 per cent of all Vauxhall sales.

Nissan 370Z The Nissan 370Z will get a special multi-lingual sales campaign in Australia. The campaign is sparked by the Nissan Z coupes having a loyal and faithful following among Asian buyers here.

So, to help the new 370Z tap that market, Nissan Australia is targeting them with a specific sales campaign aimed at Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking buyers.

“We also have two demographics looking at the Z,” Nissan’s marketing chief, Stephen Collins, says. “There are the under 35s, many of them Asian born, and then the post-children buyers,” he says.

Collins says many Z owners are loyal to the coupe and he anticipates some conquest sales with the new model, particularly from large cars and “some medium cars”.

A Roadster version of the Z is due late next year.

R27 Renault Sport Clio

There’s a new hot hatch in the Aussie market for under $40,000. Named in full the Clio RenaultSport 197 F1 Team R27, the new car is certain to find homes quickly in Australia. Affiliated with Renault’s Formula One effort, the ‘R27’ is limited to just 40 units allocated for Australia, so prospective buyers will need to be quick. Power and torque figures for the R27 are identical to those numbers for the ‘basic’ Clio 197 on which the R27 is based, but the limited-production model is built to ‘Cup Chassis’ specs at the Dieppe (France) factory of Renault Sport, Renault’s tame tuner.

Priced at $39,990, the R27 is available in just three colours: Toro Red, Glacier White and Victory Yellow. What also sets the R27 apart from the Clio 197 is an upgrade comprising the Cup Chassis suspension components, 17-inch charcoal-finished alloy wheels red brake calipers, Recaro front seats and F1-specific decals. And there’s also a rear air diffuser, climate control, cruise control, standard stability control and a build plate adjacent the handbrake.

Running a ride height 7mm lower than the standard Clio 197, the R27’s Cup Chassis suspension features stiffer springs and more compliant bump stops. Renault claims that the up-rated suspension provides a 10 per cent increase in bending stiffness and the whole kit results in greater braking stability and steering precision through consecutive corners.