A Christchurch dealer has been recognised for its outstanding service by the nationwide MYOB Awesome Service Award.

Craig Mitchell of Chevron Quality Cars in Christchurch, was the winner of the latest weekly award which is given to businesses nominated by the public for their service. The award comes with a certificate and promotion of the win on Newstalk ZB.

Mitchell was nominated by James Griffin of Napier, who was stranded in Christchurch after a car purchase fell through.

MTA subsidiary Vehicle Testing Group is looking for a new board member, with applications for the spot closing this Friday.

VTG has 84 VTNZ branded stations with more than 900 staff located throughout New Zealand. It provides WoF, CoF, Entry Certification, Road User Charges, Vehicle Licences and other vehicle compliance services.

Holden has released details on the Series II VE Commodore and WM Caprice, calling the new car the ‘smart Commodore’. That’s mostly because of new technology packed into the car that introduces multimedia technology, improved fuel economy and the ability to run on bio-ethanol.

The new multimedia package is called Holden-iQ and it adds Bluetooth, USB, iPod and MP3 player capability across the entire range. Holden-iQ works through a touch screen mounted in the centre of the dashboard. Every model except Omega also has the ability to rip music into an internal flash drive, keeping the music in the stereo’s memory. Selected models also get a sat nav system that works through the touch screen.

On the engine front, the 3.0 litre SIDI V6 is two percent more efficient, now measuring 9.1L/100km on the official ADR81/02 testing regime, while the larger 3.6 litre SIDI engine gains a three percent improvement in fuel consumption. Across the V8 range there has been a fuel economy improvement of just over six percent.

Kia has released pricing for its new Sportage model - pricing its entry level model below that of competing offerings from Mitsubishi and Hyundai.

The vehicle will not go on sale till October 1, but Kia has said it is releasing pricing now to allow buyers to 'plan ahead'. THe pricing includes the higher GST rate.

Kia claims that at $33,990 plus on-road costs, the Sportage 2.0 Urban LX model undercuts all other SUV/CUV models on the market, including the smaller Mitsubishi ASX. The price also puts the new Sportage some $6000 below the equivalent Hyundai iX35’s current price.

The comparison is 'like-for-like', and a Kia representative told Autotalk they do not consider the $28,990 Great Wall X240 a competitor.

A perfect weekend with pole position and three race wins in the penultimate round of the German ADAC Formula Masters Championship at the Nurburgring circuit has seen young Kiwi (Tauranga) driver, Richie Stanaway (18) win the seven-round German ADAC Championship with one round (three races to go).

Following the Nurburgring round his total of 315 points cannot be beaten, no matter what happens in the final round at the Oschersleben circuit in October.

Toyota has announced yet another recall, this time on late model Corollas, but it does not affect vehicles sold in New Zealand.

Paul Carroll, general manager of after aales for Toyota New Zealand, says no Corollas in New Zealand – including Japanese imports – are fitted with the electronic control module used in the US market.

New Zealand investment firm Hellaby Holdings, which owns a number of prominent local parts suppliers, has announced an after tax profit of $10.3 million for the year to June 30.

This is dramatically higher than a profit of just $700,000 in the previous year.

Hellany owns parts suppliers BNT, Autolign, NZ Brake Co, HCB Technologies, Diesel Distributors and TRS Tyre and Well. Autolign and HCB Technologies also run outlets under the Shock Shop and Battery Town brands.