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from Western Weekender February 11 2022

Announcements

Powerful and classy

On the hunt for a new car? CUPRA allows you to stand out from the crowd

NATHAN TAYLOR

CUPRA Australia has announced specifications for the inbound CUPRA Ateca SUV, which will be available in one highly specified model grade, named VZx.

The Ateca will form part of CUPRA’s Australian model launch in mid-2022, which also includes the Leon hatchback, and the Formentor crossover SUV.

Combining striking design and DNA with blistering performance, the CUPRA Ateca, named after the historic town in Spain, pushes the sport paradigm of ‘sports utility vehicle’ even further with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine mated to a seven-speed DSG and 4Drive all-wheel drive. This potent combination produces 221kW and 400Nm, enabling the CUPRA Ateca to sprint to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds.

As the only CUPRA Ateca model grade offered in Australia, the CUPRA Ateca VZx will come fully-loaded. Standard features of the go-fast SUV include extensive visual and performance-oriented cues, including 19-inch Exclusive Sport alloy wheels in black and copper, full LED headlights with daytime running lamps, rear LED lamps with dynamic ‘swiping’ indicators , fog lamps with cornering lamps, Light Assist (automatic highbeam), Driving Profile Selection, Dynamic Chassis Control and Progressive Steering.

Jeff Shafer, CUPRA Australia’s Head of Product and Planning, lauded the Ateca for its dualnatured design and performance.

“With Ateca we have a practical, versatile SUV, while still benefiting from CUPRA’s DNA; which transforms it,” he said.

“By offering one fully-loaded variant, we can give customers the very best the brand has to offer in terms of tech, driving experience and style, while maintaining [a] simple to understand model offering for our local launch.”

The CUPRA Ateca SUV is heading to Australia soon.

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Lexus keeps growing

Luxury car brand focuses on hybrid-electric vehicles as strong sales roll on

NATHAN TAYLOR

Lexus has advanced its standing as a leading luxury lifestyle brand, posting solid annual sales growth in Australia and around the world, including record deliveries of its progressive hybrid-electric vehicle range.

Both domestic and global demand for Lexus vehicles increased more than five per cent in 2021, resulting in 760,015 worldwide deliveries with Australian deliveries accounting for 9,290 units. The 2021 local tally was within just 322 sales of the record 9,612 sales set in 2019.

Overall, the largest markets for Lexus were North America (332,000 sales, up 12 per cent) and China (227,000).

Worldwide sales of Lexus hybrid-electric vehicles achieved a record of approximately 260,000 sales, or 34.2 per cent of global sales. In Australia, hybrid-electric sales expanded by almost 23.1 per cent to 3,604 vehicles, representing 38.8 per cent of the brand’s local deliveries.

The best-selling Lexus hybrid in Australia was the NX 300h (992 vehicles), which was accompanied by record hybrid sales for the UX 250h premium crossover (975) and the ES 300h luxury sedan (700).

Lexus Australia also surpassed its 30,000th sale of a hybrid vehicle last year – marking a significant milestone in a story that began in 2006 with the introduction of the world’s first hybrid-electric luxury vehicle, the RX 400h.

Lexus Australia Chief Executive, John Pappas, said the popularity of Lexus hybrids reflected customer desire for vehicles blending strong performance and excellent efficiency.

“Hybrid-electric vehicles are a huge help in the reduction of CO2 emissions, and Lexus strives to use every item in its toolbox to help reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions,” he said.

With Lexus now offering a broad range of hybrid-electric options, its first battery electric UX 300e, and the luxury lifestyle brand’s debut plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle – the NX 450h+ – just around the corner, the increasing popularity of electrified Lexus powertrains is contributing to a more sustainable future.

Lexus International President and Chief Branding Officer, Koji Sato, expressed his gratitude to Lexus customers around the world.

“In 2022, we will continue to refine Lexus’ unique design and driving taste that appeals to the sensibilities of our customers, based on brand holder Akio Toyoda’s desire to ‘be the brand that people who know the real thing choose at the end of the day’,” he said.

“Starting with the BEV exclusive model ‘RZ’ in (the northern) spring, we will release a series of new models that will accompany the lifestyles of a variety of customers.”