VIDEO: the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6 in action

Australians love their pickup beds -- perhaps even more than we do. The Ford Coupe Utility of the 1930s was the initial salvo in a truckcar war that rages even today on the southern continent. From the late '50s into the '80s, the conflict consumed Detroit as well, spawning such revered nameplates as El Camino, Ranchero, Rampage and Sprint.

News watch August 2011: today's auto industry news

Come to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Wednesday 31 August 2011• The two millionth Mini today rolled off the production line at Plant Oxford. British prime minister David Cameron drove the landmark car off the line (Mini)• Volkswagen says it will sell more than 2 million cars in China this year.

Volvo reveals safety kit on 2015 XC90 SUV

By John Mahoney Motor Industry 22 July 2014 10:34 Volvo claims the all-new XC90 that will be revealed in late August will be one of the safest cars money can buy thanks to pioneering new safety technology. So far the Swedish carmaker has teased us with designer sketches of how the seven-seat crossover will look, told us how it will be offered with a 395bhp plug-in hybrid that emits just 60g/km of CO2 and released official pictures of the production XC90’s interior. Now it’s time for the Volvo publicity machine to tell us about the novel new safety tech that will protect us from ourselves and this includes two claimed world firsts.