The Fiat Tipo hits a record 3.9% share just as the Fiat Panda is at its lowest in 5 years.
* See the Top 45 brands and Top 50 models by clicking on the title *
The Italian new car market leaps up 15.7% in August to 84.104 registrations, the highest result for the month since 2009. The Italian market has now been in positive for 43 of the past 45 months (only May 2014 and April 2017 showed a decline). However this month the growth is entirely artificial: company sales are up a whopping 50.2% to 21.331 and 25.4% share vs. 19.5% a year ago and rental sales are up 41.8% to 13.492 and 16% vs. 13.1% in August 2016. Short term rentals are even up 76% to 3.194. In contrast, private sales only edge up 0.6% to 49.281 and 58.6% share, tumbling down from 67.4% in August 2016. Year-to-date, Italian sales are up 8.8% to 1.375.637 but private sales are actually down 1.2% to 773.502 and 56.2% share vs 62% over the same period in 2016. Company sales are up 35.7% to 282.680 and 20.5% share vs. 16.5% in 2016 and rental sales are up 17.4% to 319.445 and 23.2% share vs. 21.5% a year ago…
The Ford Kuga is up 64% year-on-year in August. Picture allaguida.it
Fiat remains of course the preferred brand in Italy but trails the market at +13%, resulting in a weaker 19.9% market share compared to the 21.4% it commands year-to-date. Volkswagen (+12%) is back in 2nd place above Renault up a whopping 42% to #3 and Ford up just 8% to #4. Peugeot (+20%), Citroen (+32%), Toyota (+35%), Audi (+39%) and Nissan (+50%) all post spectacular gains within the Top 10. Below, notice Mercedes (+22%), Jeep (+23%), Seat (+26%), Alfa Romeo (+36%), Suzuki (+36%), Volvo (+37%), DS (up an unusual 55%) and Mahindra (+180%). Dacia (-1%) and Kia (-7%) are the only Top 20 brands in negative while further down, Lexus (-30%), Ssangyong (-31%) and Infiniti (-34%) struggle.
The Audi Q2 hits a record 34th place in August.
Model-wise, the Fiat Panda remains unsurprisingly on top, but with sales only edging up 2% year-on-year, it slumps to its lowest market share in over five years (since July 2012) at 5.6%. The Fiat Tipo for its part gains 50% to 3.9% share – a record for this new generation – and returns to the 2nd place for the third time ever after last May and June. The Tipo is now only 634 sales below the Lancia Ypsilon in the race for the #2 spot YTD. The Renault Clio shoots up 92% to cement its #1 foreigner title at #4, distancing the Fiat 500L (+21%) and Fiat 500 (+26%) while the Citroen C3 (+69%) stays at #7. Excellent performances of the VW Tiguan (+47%), Nissan Qashqai (+38%) and Ford Kuga (+64%), The Toyota C-HR (#27) dominates recent launches (<12 months) just as the Audi Q2 jumps 16 spots on July to hit a best-ever #34. Notice also the Audi Q5 up 169% to #39 and the Renault Megane up 104% to #47.
The Dacia Sandero hops on the French podium for the first time in four years. Picture whatcar.co.uk
* See the Top 20 best-selling brands and models by clicking on the title *
The French new car market is up a robust 9.4% in August to 107.455 registrations, bringing the year-to-date tally up 4.2% to 1.390.240 units. Renault manages to reclaims the #1 brand title in-extremis off Peugeot with sals up 8.7% to 18.092 vs. 18.011 (+10.8%) for Peugeot. Both manufacturers hold 16.8% of their home market, below their respective YTD levels of 19.6% and 17.5%. Citroen (+1.9%) trails the market and slumps to a disappointing 9% share vs. 10% YTD.
The C-HR helps Toyota up 16.2% this month, now #6 YTD in-between VW and Ford.
The hero of the month is without contest Dacia whose never-ending success story continues in France: thanks to deliveries up a whopping 21.8%, it outsells Volkswagen for the very first time to snap a best-ever 4th place overall in the brands ranking with 7.3% market share. If Dacia has ranked at this place and even in third place when only considering private sales, this is its first time at such a high level in the overall market, having consistently ranked 5th every month since October 2015. Below Volkswagen knocked down to 5th, Toyota gains 16.2% to bypass Ford for the 6th place YTD. Nissan surges 58% to 7th place, Mercedes (+3.5%) tops the premium order above Audi (-1.9%) and BMW (-0.1%). Hyundai (+17.8%), Fiat (+21.1%) and Skoda (+32.8%) also shine in the Top 20.
Skoda gains 32.8% in August, the largest improvement among the Top 20 brands.
Model-wise, the Renault Clio soars 33% year-on-year to solidly hold onto the top spot with 5% share vs. 4.1% for the Peugeot 208 (-17%), threatened this month by the Dacia Sandero up 18% to 4% share on the third step of the podium. This is the first time in four years that the Sandero manages to crack the French podium and the fourth time ever (#3 in July and August 2013 and #2 in March 2010). The Citroen C3 III remains in 4ht place while the Peugeot 3008 II drops two spots on its record July to #5 but remains in 3rd position year-to-date. Both the Peugeot 308 (-5%) and 2008 (-8%) lose ground year-on-year, but not as much as the Renault Captur, down 15% to #10. The VW Polo (+33%) is the only foreigner in the Top 10 at #9, distancing the Toyota Yaris at #12 (+26%) and the Nissan Qashqai at #13 (+69%).
Complete brands and models data will be uploaded when available.
The Dacia Sandero is the best-selling vehicle in Spain in August. Picture carwow.co.uk
* See the Top 45 All-brands and Top 285 All-models by clicking on the title *
The Spanish new car market leaps up a significant 12.9% year-on-year in August to 72.888 registrations, the highest result for the month in 10 years, since the 99.639 units sold in 2007. The year-to-date total is now up 6.9% to 854.448, the highest point at this time of the year since 2008 (882.565). Unfortunately, once again this dynamism has more to do with artificial sales. In August, rental sales are up 41% to 3.586 or 4.9% of the market vs. 3.9% a year ago and company sales are up 10.4% to 23.194 and 31.8% share vs. 30.8% in August 2016. In contrast, private sales are up 8.3% to 46.108, seeing their share fall from 66% to 63.3%. Year-to-date, private sales are up just 1.9% and 49.5% share vs. 51.9% a year ago. Compact SUVs, up 32% to 17.371 sales, are once again the most popular segment above compact cars at 15.741 (+6%) and small cars at 15.043 (+7%). Year-to-date compact SUVs, up 35% to 185.067, still trail small cars at 198.507 (+8%) and compact cars at 194.073 (-1%).
The Nissan Qashqai is up 35% to 3rd place.
Brand-wise, this month Volkswagen jumps two spots on July to snap the pole position in spite of gaining just 7% year-on-year vs. +17% for Renault at #2 and +20% for Toyota up five spots to spectacularly land on the third step of the podium. Peugeot (+12%) is up one rank to #4 while Seat (+18%) is down three to #5 but manages to remain in the year-to-date lead – just – with 7.7% share vs. 7.6% for Volkswagen, 7.5% for Opel down to #6 in August and 7.4% for Renault. Mercedes soars 19% and 5 spots to break into the Top 10 at #10, Land Rover is up 24%, Mazda up 28%, Audi up 29%, Fiat up 30%, BMW up 39% and Smart up 54%. Among smaller brands, Abarth is up 74% and Tesla up 700%.
The Fiat 500 is up 169% to 6th place.
The Dacia Sandero spectacularly takes the lead of the Spanish models ranking in August with sales up 11% to 2.4% share, only 21 units above the YTD leader the Seat Ibiza up 20% to 2.4% share also. It is the 7th time the Sandero tops the Spanish sales after January, August, December 2013, August, September 2014 and November 2015. The Nissan Qashqai (+35%), VW Golf (+19%) and Renault Clio (+19%) all grab 2.3% of the market, making Spain one of the most fragmented markets in Europe for the month – it could even be the most fragmented, pending Swiss results. The Fiat 500 spends a 2nd consecutive month inside the Spanish Top 10 at #6 thanks to deliveries up a whopping 169% year-on-year.
The Kia Stonic makes its very first appearance in the Spanish sales charts at #135.
The Toyota Yaris (+24%), Renault Megane (+57%), Peugeot 2008 (+34%), Citroen C3 (+106%) and Seat Ateca (+387%) also shine inside the Top 20. The Toyota C-HR is back up 24 spots on June to lead recent launches (<12 months) at #28, one unit above the Peugeot 3008 II (#29), wit the Ford Ka+ (#42), Peugeot 5008 II (#53) and Audi Q2 (#64) in tow. This month we welcome the Kia Stonic at #135 and the Citroen C3 Aircross at #230.
Irish green Renault Kadjar + Fluence near the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland – August 2017
I was lucky enough to be able to drive through part of the western coast of Ireland for five days in mid-August, and as is always the case when actually finding oneself in the actual country, I learnt details that don’t blatantly appear in the monthly sales charts – the objective of such explorations. During that quick week, we drove from Dublin to Galway, Clifden, Letterfrack, the Conemarra National Park, Westport then further south to the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands, then back to Dublin. All-in-all, we had perhaps 1.5 day of sun, the rest being drenched in typical Irish rain… Not to worry, the car parc was still there to be observed in detail.
Kaitlin, our rental Peugeot 208 in Clifden, Ireland – August 2017 Our Ireland itinerary
Our vehicle for this Irish adventure was a rental Irish red Peugeot 208, with its odo indicating 22.435 miles at pickup – impossible for the life of me to return this to kilometres – and 23.137 at drop-off, or 702 miles / 1.130 km in five days. After Ivanhoe the Haval H8 and Joey the Toyota Hilux, our 208 was baptised Kaitlin, a name we tried to pick in accordance to our surroundings. Kaitlin was easy to drive – I had anticipated a bit of headache due to the right-hand drive manual nature of the car, but all went well. Nothing amazing, nothing horrendous, but the car distinctly lacked oomph when accelerating. A pushy experience all-in-all.
2 x Hyundai Tucson in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017
There were a lot of sales peculiarities I had been wanting to verify in Ireland, the main one being the sudden as much as implacable success of the Hyundai Tucson, #1 in the country in 2016 and so far in 2017. If in Dublin its domination was far from obvious, as soon as we hit the countryside it was a proper avalanche of Tucson that unfolded on the tiny roads and city streets. Seeing two or even three Tucsons parked next to each other was a frequent occurrence. However I noticed a lot of Tucsons with “Europcar” stickers on the back window, prompting me to wonder whether this smashing success has in fact a lot to do with rentals. Hyundai Ireland hasn’t responded to my inquiry on the matter. My estimation is around 1/3 of Tucsons I saw were rentals.
Nissan Qashqai in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017
Another nameplate I could spot at every street corner in Ireland is the Nissan Qashqai. Although it never ranked #1 here in the annual sales charts – #3 in 2012, #2 in 2013, #2 in 2014 and #3 in 2015 – when travelling to this part of Ireland it does look like this is the car that has dominated the Irish sales charts for the past five years. The Ford Focus, #1 from 2001 to 2012 except in 2010, is certainly present but not to the extent its domination would have let us to believe. The VW Golf for example, #1 from 2013 to 2015, makes itself noticed a lot more but is still below the Qashqai.
Renault Kadjar in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017 Renault Megane Sedan and 2 x Nissan Qashqai near the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland – August 2017
One vehicle I saw a lot more than I expected in Ireland is the Renault Kadjar, a lot more frequent than at home in France. It ranked #13 in 2016 and is #20 so far in 2017, so the only explanation I can find for this overwhelming presence is, here too, success with rental companies. Although the Renault brand has been popular for a long time in Ireland. There is a very strong heritage of Renault Fluence here, and its successor, the Renault Megane Sedan, has kick-started its career with a bang.
VW Golf in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017
Hyundai i30 in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017Hyundai i40 near the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland – August 2017Seat Toledo in Clifden, Ireland – August 2017
Which leads me to one very particular observation about the Irish car park: this country is still very fond of the sedans that are struggling to sell at all all over the rest of Western Europe: on top of the Megane Sedan – not even available in France, very popular sedans in Ireland include the Toyota Avensis (a very strong heritage of this nameplate), Corolla, Hyundai i40, Seat Toledo and VW Passat. Remaining on Hyundai for an instant, the all-new i30 is already well represented all around the area we traversed, adding to the success of the Tucson.
Skoda Octavia and Fabia near the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland – August 2017Skoda Citigo in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017
In terms of brands, the main striking observation is the success of Skoda, seemingly far more represented than its 6th place in 2017 would suggest. The Skoda Octavia (#5 so far in 2017) is everywhere, as is the Fabia, in Dublin a large number of taxis are the Skoda Superb and the Skoda Citigo is the most frequent of the three VW-Group minibars, more so than the VW Up or Seat Mii. Interestingly, I did not see many older Skodas, which would either indicate that this success is recent, or that the cars don’t survive long. The other brand that surprised me is Dacia. The facelifted Sandero ranked 11th in July and it shows: they are in every village, and the Duster is also very frequent.
Toyota C-HR in Clifden, Ireland – August 2017
Nissan Micra in Ireland – August 2017
Among recent launches, the Toyota C-HR is present, as well as the new Nissan Micra and, to a much lesser extent, the Peugeot 3008. The Suzuki Vitara and Kia Sorento also appeared surprisingly frequently.
Toyota Avensis on Inishmore, Aran Islands – August 2017
Away on Inishmore, one of the three Aran Islands that you cannot reach by car, only locals are allowed their cars and the Aran car park is like a travel through time with older generations of Toyota Avensis, VW Passat, Opel Vectra and Skoda Octavia. Only a handful of cars sported the 2013 and beyond bi-annual license plate system.
I hope you enjoyed this quick insight into the Irish car park, please feel free to ask me anything in the comments section.
Fiat Panda x 2 in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017
It’s been two years since our last Photo Report in Ventimiglia, at the border with France northwest of the country, so it’s time for our traditional update. You can also see the 2013 Photo Report here. See also our 2016 Photo Report on driving a Panda in Sardinia here. If last time the car parc seemed immobile compared to two years prior because of a particularly weak Italian market over the period, this year the differences are blatant and the renewed dynamism of Italian car sales shows. In 2017, it’s like all drivers of the small town on the Italian “Riviera” had given each other the word: Panda. It’s a total invasion I witnessed in the streets of Ventimiglia, the nameplate finally justifying its continued domination of the market – it has now been the local best-sellers for five straight years and is headed towards a 6th consecutive one in 2017. All Panda generations are well represented in the streets but the latest one clearly coming on top.
Fiat 500 in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017 Fiat Tipo in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017
The Fiat 500, overwhelmingly dominant at the time of my two previous Photo Reports, takes a step back in line with its receding towards the second half of the Italian Top 10 over the past couple of years. It is still the second most common vehicle in town though. My main element of curiosity coming here was to check the popularity of the new Fiat Tipo which has managed to climb up to 2nd place for a couple of months in 2017, currently stands at a stunning third position in the 2017 YTD ranking and totally obliterates the Station Wagon ranking. And the proof is in the pudding: I did spot five Tipos in a little more than one hour spent in town, two sedans, two station wagons and just one hatch. I would have expected the hatch to be more prevalent. Granted, the sample is tiny.
Renault Clio in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017
Lancia Ypsilon x2 in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017
Also very frequent in Ventimiglia this year are the Renault Clio – logical, it will be the best-selling foreigner in the country for the 4th straight year in 2017, the Lancia Ypsilon – but less so than the two previous times I was here, the Renault Twingo, and a surprisingly high number of Dacia Duster.
Fiat Panda Cross in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017Fiat Tipo SW in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017 Smart Forfour and Fortwo in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017A valiant 1989 Fiat Uno surviving in Ventimiglia.
Daihatsu Sigra sales are up 124% year-on-year in July.
* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title *
After freefalling 27% in June, the Indonesian new car market rallies back up 36% in July to 85.131 registrations, lifting the year-to-date total up 4% to 619.034 units. The Top four best-selling nameplates all brilliantly beat the market: The Toyota Avanza is up 49% to 10.7% share, the Toyota Kijang Innova up 55% to 7%, the Toyota Calya up 86% to 6.5% and its twin the Daihatsu Sigra up 124% to 5.3%. In fact, the entire Top 10 is in positive territory wit the Suzuki Ertiga (+52%) and Suzuki Carry Pikap (+172%) also impressive. The Suzuki Ignis is up 5 spots on June to #14 while the Toyota Yaris climbs back into the Top 20 despite deliveries down 43%.
The Citroen Berlingo is equal #1 with the Fiat 500L in July.
* See the Top 35 All-brands and Top 10 models by clicking on the title *
According to data published by our Central European data partner CE Auto, new car sales in Serbia are up 1% year-on-year to 2.315 registrations, leading to a year-to-date total up 14% to 18.518 units. Local publication Vrele Gume, which reports brand sales in the country, has these figures at 2.531 and 17.993 respectively. This month Skoda (+7%) overtakes local producer and traditional leader Fiat at 12.5% share vs. 11.6% (-15%) for the Italian carmaker. Volkswagen (+82%) is also nipping at Fiat’s heels with a 11.2% share. In 4th place, Citroen shoots up 7-fold compared to July 2016 thanks to a one-off stunning score by the Berlingo, equal #1 with the Fiat 500L this month, while the C3 soars to #4, making its first Serbian Top 10 appearance since BSCB started following this market monthly in 2014. Ford (+32%), Dacia (+20%) and Audi (+78%) also impress near the top of the ranking. Model-wise, the Kia Cee’d (#5), Audi A3 (#8) and Skoda Rapid (#10) also punch well above their YTD weight.
The Renault Clio is now #1 year-to-date in Bosnia.
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title *
Thanks to our partnership with Central European market data partner CE Auto, we can share with you today July sales for Bosnia & Herzegovina, a market up 16% year-on-year to 865 registrations, lifting the year-to-date tally up 20% to 6.241 units. The hero of the month is the Renault Clio, up 51% to 6.5% share in July which earns it both the #1 spot for the month and YTD where it overtakes the Skoda Octavia, holding a 5.3% share (+33%) vs. 5% (+21%) for the Czech sedan. The Opel Astra (+64%) and VW Golf (-7%) round up the podium while the Toyota Yaris soars to 4th place overall with 3.7% share.
The Dacia Sandero is the best-selling nameplate in Moldova in July.
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title *
According to data published by our Central European market data partner CE Auto, new car sales in Moldova bounce up 54% year-on-year in July to 468 registrations, lifting the year-to-date tally up 29% to 2.751 units. This month the Dacia Sandero comes out of nowhere (namely outside the Top 10) to directly land in pole position with just under 10% of the market. The Romanian hatchback doesn’t rank in the YTD Top 10 however. The Hyundai Tucson posts an outstanding month at 9.2% share (+139%) and so does the Skoda Octavia at 6.4% (+150%). Traditional leader in Moldova, the Dacia Logan (-17%) is knocked down to 4th place but retains the YTD lead for now, but only 15 units above the Hyundai Tucson. The Kia Sportage also makes a rare appearance inside the Moldovan Top 10 at #5 while the Skoda Kodiaq breaks into the Top 10 for the first time at #10.
As of 2015, the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling vehicle in an estimated 42 countries in the world, by far the most crowned nameplate on the planet. Stay tuned for an update article coming soon featuring H1 2017 sales. In 2016, the Hilux became the first commercial vehicle to top the Australian annual sales charts, and it is in the lead again so far in 2017. It was high time for BSCB to test-drive this worldwide best-seller, and Toyota Australia kindly loaned us a Hilux Double Cab TD SR5 4×4 2.8L for one week. We decided to take it to spectacular Fraser Island, or K’gari in local Butchulla Aboriginal language (pronounced “Gurri”) which means paradise. But first to find a name for our Hilux. The last loaner we had was a Haval H9 we nicknamed Ivanhoe, so this one needs to start in J. The search quickly narrowed down to Joey, meaning a baby kangaroo, apt for this agile and shining new Hilux.
It all started in Sydney…Fraser Island location in AustraliaFraser Island map
We took hold of the Hilux at Toyota’s Sydney headquarters, and from here to Fraser Island it’s a 15h, 1.250km-long trip traversing countryside New South Wales and Queensland. The return voyage ended up adding 2.639 km to Joey’s odo, all done in four days. K’Gari Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world at 1.840 km2. Yep, that means there isn’t a single rock on the island! It is located 250 km north of Brisbane on the Australian east coast, has a length of 120 km (75 mi) for a width of around 24 km (15 mi). It houses over 100 freshwater lakes that are some of the cleanest in the world. Joey couldn’t resist a splash in one of the freshwater rivers running down into the ocean:
K’Gari Fraser Island has been inhabited by humans for at least 5.000 years and is the home of roughly 200 inhabitants today. It was formerly known as the Great Sandy Island in the late 18th and early 19th century and owes its current name to Eliza Fraser who created what may well be one of the first instances of what we call today “fake news”… Eliza Fraser was the wife of Captain James Fraser, master of the Stirling Castle that struck a reef north of the island in 1836. They landed with the crew on a longboat, then attempting to trek south. Eliza claimed she was captured by the Badtjala people who she wrongly accused of being cannibals. Many other survivors of the same shipwreck later disputed her claims. However, Fraser’s fictional report of her ill-treatment on the island eventually led to the massacre and dispossession of the island’s tribe. The 1976 film “Eliza Fraser” sustained the legend and was at the time the most expensive Australian film ever made.
Access to the barge to Fraser Island
As we had booked accomodation in Happy Valley, about half-way up the eastern coast of the island (see map above), we decided to enter Fraser Island from the south, taking the barge from Rainbow beach and Inskip Point. We thought it would be a small yet proper harbour with, well, a sealed street leading to it. None of this in this part of Australia! To reach the barge we first had to cross a pretty deep sand field. My co-driver David and I have no prior experience of sand driving – one of the reasons we wanted to take the Hilux here – so we had just previously lowered the pressure of our tyres slightly, thinking it would be enough with the help of the low range 4WD gear. How naive were we.
Maxtrax recovery tracks
Only a few metres and we got bogged down. After watching us for a few minutes trying to extricate ourselves and just as we were starting to think that Fraser Island would remain unreachable for this trip, two good samaritans (as only they come by in Australia) got us out of here with a pair of bright orange Maxtrax recovery tracks such as the one pictured above. A must-buy for any trip where you are planning to drive in the sand. They also had a valve that automatically lowered our tyres to 100kpa (or 15 psi). Perfect. We were now set.
Joey and the barge to Fraser Island Joey on the barge towards Hook Point on Fraser Island
We are the only vehicle on the southern barge to Fraser, with a German backpacker giving us our ticket. Payment is by credit card with the captain perched atop a steep ladder and our National Park entrance fee is only available to purchase online. Thankfully the beaches on Fraser have very good wifi access (!). Upon landing on Hook Point is the real test of our sand driving and the lowered pressure are working a treat: it’s like we’re flying above the sand… Off we go on the exactly named 75 mile Beach. The entire eastern coast of the island is indeed a “beach track” open to vehicles. Only 4WDs are allowed on the island however.
Dingos on Fraser Island
Fraser Island invariably triggers one reaction among Australians: “don’t feed the dingos!” Dingos are a type of free-ranging dogs native to Australia. They are the largest terrestrial predator in Australia and have a prominent role in Aboriginal culture. Dingoes of Fraser Island, estimated to be around 180 to 220, are considered some of the last remaining pure dingoes in the country. As a result and to prevent cross-breeding, dogs are now allowed on the island. Since the 2001 killing of a boy by several dingoes on the island, strict measures have been taken regimenting human interaction with the animals (see card above). You can be heavily fined for feeding dingoes or even leaving food and rubbish out which may attract them.
GPS on the beach40 km/h speed limit sign along the 75 mile Beach
The 75 mile Beach is in effect a sort of sand highway, so much so that speed limit signs have been installed on the side of the beach! As far as I was concerned this was a first for me. It’s rather simple: where freshwater rivulets or rivers cross the beach towards the ocean creating creases, the speed limit goes down to 40 km/h. Otherwise it’s 80 km/h. Seems like a pretty high speed for driving on the sand but, as we’ll explain further down, high(ish) speed on sand isn’t actually a bad thing, rather much needed help. Another peculiarity of the 75 mile Beach “highway” is that the southern part of it towards Hook Point which is where the barge lands isn’t passable at high tide. To add fun to the game, the tides actually vary greatly from day to day, so we ended up being glued to the Fraser Island tide webpage for a good part of our stay on the island and opted to drive when the tide was going down rather than up, “just in case”…
Air Fraser Island plane. Picture wikipedia
One of the other “dangers” of driving on this part of the island is that it also serves as a landing strip for Air Fraser Island planes – these are not seaplanes – which offer touristic overviews of the Island. During my first trip to the island back in 2003, one of these planes landed just next to us and it was a mighty unforgettable sight. We did not have that luck this time but did see a couple of planes take off further along the beach. So in a word, when driving on the 75 mile Beach, you have to pay attention above more so than right or left…
Joey posing next to the shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno
An iconic sight of Fraser Island is the shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno, also located along the east coast of the island. It became beached in 1935 while being towed to Osaka to be broken up. But it doesn’t stop there… During the Second World War, the S.S. Maheno wreck served as target bombing practice for the Royal Australian Air Force. Today, almost three and a half storeys are buried under the sand. Speaking of which, now onto sand driving…
Sand driving on the way back to the bargeOne of Fraser Island inland sand tracks. And yes this is a two-way track!
Driving on sand turned out to be much easier than expected once our tyre pressure was significantly lowered. That is, if you follow one simple rule: don’t drive slow! Completely counter-intuitive, driving kind of fast on sand is key to avoid getting bogged down. This explains why the speed limit is as high as 80 km/h on some parts of the 75 Mile Beach. On average, driving at around 40 km/h constantly will do the trick. To me, it felt like driving on semi-solid mud, to my co-driver David who also flies planes, the way the car follows the sand tracks and ruts more than obeying your steering reminded him of how a plane feels in windy conditions. A scary part though was driving on one of the inland sand tracks that didn’t allow space for more than one vehicle even though it was a two-way track!
Here’s Joey driving through the last bit of sand we had for him, after arriving back to Inskip Point, before a (very quick) review of the vehicle below.
A happy crew!
Sand driving ability: this is why we came to Fraser Island and we weren’t disappointed, once a few basics were applied on our side. Nothing can stop the Hilux outside the beaten tracks and this test drive proved it again.
Interior comfort is top notch, the pickup feels robust to drive yet is very manoeuvrable.
2.8L TD Engine has all the grunt that is needed for this type of trip, be it on sand or on asphalt.
Commands are all very intuitive apart from one (see below)…
Fuel consumption is correct given the size of the vehicle
The main and surprising source of grunts was the GPS: disconcerting at best, frustrating at worst, it’s convoluted to operate, and thus dangerous because requiring complete attention on the screen. Names of hotels cannot be picked up unless you are “near”, the GPS continues to calculate the route once arrived at destination… The list goes on.
A pet hate of mine: for this type of price (AU$ 59.459 driveaway), you’d expect not just the driver seat to be electric but the passenger one as well. It is manual. Feels a tad cheap.
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The Fiat Tipo hits a record 3.9% share just as the Fiat Panda is at its lowest in 5 years.
The Ford Kuga is up 64% year-on-year in August. Picture allaguida.it
The Audi Q2 hits a record 34th place in August. 
Renault Kadjar in Roundstone, Ireland – August 2017
Renault Megane Sedan and 2 x Nissan Qashqai near the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland – August 2017
Fiat 500 in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017 
Fiat Tipo in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017 
Fiat Tipo SW in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2017
