QUICK READ

Spacey

IT MIGHT resemble something from another planet, but the Hyundai Staria, pictured above, takes over from the H1 bus as the company’s executive MPV offering.

Compared with the H1, the Staria has been thoroughly modernised, and the local importer is offering a four-model range priced between R789 900 and R1 099 900. All the models are powered by a 2.2-litre VGT turbodiesel engine that produces 130kw and 430Nm. It is paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Built on a new platform and sporting redesigned suspension and reduced noise levels, it also has a more modern structure featuring an intelligent mix of various-strength materials. | IOL Motoring

Not so green

HYBRID cars are increasingly popular in the EU as eco-conscious drivers turn away from their petrol and diesel counterparts, but environmentalists warn they’re not as green as they seem. Greenpeace and the pressure group Transport and Environment believe hybrids slow down the transition to electric vehicles.

They want to accelerate the shift to fully electric and other forms of transport.

“Conventional ‘full’ hybrids in particular, which run for the majority of the time on fossil fuel energy, are barely any cleaner than traditional petrol and diesel engines,” Greenpeace said last year. | AFP

Phasing out

SIX major car companies will commit to phasing out the production of fossilfuel vehicles around the world by 2040, as part of global efforts to cut carbon emissions, the British government said in a statement. But sources familiar with the pledge’s contents said some big carmakers including the world’s top two, Toyota and Volkswagen, as well as crucial car markets China, the United States and Germany have not signed up.

Volvo, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-benz, China’s BYD and Jaguar Land Rover were expected to sign the pledge at climate talks in Glasgow, the latest initiative to help cap global warming by mid-century. | IOL Motoring

Hot hatch

WITH its rally-derived technology, the Toyota GR Yaris is very much in a class of its own, but we have it on good authority that this is likely just the beginning of Toyota’s modern hot hatch story. According to Carsguide, the latest rumours are pointing towards a Toyota GR Corolla making an entrance at some point, with a Rally edition that pushes out around 224kw. The Toyota GR Corolla is set to be powered by an uprated version of the Yaris’s 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbopetrol engine, the Australian publication reported, and it is also set to receive its smaller sibling’s Gr-four all-wheel drive system. | IOL Motoring