MOTORSPORT
MCLAREN RACING TO ENTER EXTREME E IN 2022 McLaren Racing will open a new motorsport chapter in 2022 when it enters a team into Extreme E, the innovative allelectric off-road series which aims to use racing to promote sustainability and diversity. The team will compete in the five-race global championship, helping to accelerate McLaren Racing’s own sustainability and diversity agenda, while reaching new fans and partners, and growing the McLaren Racing brand and franchise. “From the moment Extreme E was announced we have been following the progress of the series closely,” Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, commented. “Our attention was immediately drawn by the innovative format of this motorsport platform, in particular the ability it gives us to accelerate and boost our own overarching sustainability agenda, which shares the same priorities of decarbonisation, waste reduction, diversity and equality. The decision to enter Extreme E follows a detailed evaluation of the series by McLaren against a set of strategic, economic and operational criteria. These were underpinned by a clear imperative for accelerating McLaren Racing’s own sustainability
mission, which places carbon reduction, the recycling, reuse and elimination of waste, and diversity, equality and inclusion at its core. Extreme E highlights the impact of climate change in some of the world’s most remote environments, promotes the adoption of electric vehicles to pave the way for a lower carbon future, and provides a world-first gender-equal motorsport platform. Source: talkmotorsport.co.nz
INDUSTRY NEWS
HILUX LEADS STRONG MAY SALES RECOVERY The Toyota Hilux led a strong Aussie market recovery in May 2021 with 4402 units sold, followed by the Ford Ranger which saw 4254 units sold and the Toyota RAV-4 saw 4014 units sold in spite of restricted supply of the hybrid models. Toyota was the Australian new car market leader in May recording sales of 21,156 units. It was followed by Mazda (10,554), Kia (7124), Ford (6493) and Mitsubishi (6478). The demand for new vehicles for business and private use remains strong with a 2021 record number of 100,809 new vehicle sales being recorded in May according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). The result this month surpasses the March result of 100,005 and has the industry on track to return to sales of more than one million new vehicles for the year. It shows an increase of 68.3 per cent on the corresponding month last year which was significantly impacted through COVID-19 lockdowns across the country. FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says the result once again showed that confidence in the national economy and pentup demand across all sectors were strong enough to counter issues related to COVID-19 uncertainties and supply chain issues.
“While we cannot be certain about the future economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation, businesses and households are showing their confidence by purchasing new vehicles,” he says. “I expect this situation will continue to improve in the second half of this calendar year as confidence continues to grow, coupled with incentives such as the extension of the depreciation allowance for business which was announced in the Federal Budget during the month. Weber says that the rental segment continued to grow with the year to date result up 69.4% while private sales were up 50.3% year to date. “The result also highlights the outstanding efforts by all parties in the supply chain in continuing to meet the demands of their of their customers in the face of ongoing challenges such as the shortage of microprocessors and shipping delays,” Weber says.
Source: autotalk.com.au
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