Plug-and-play Kia
First came Kia Motors New Zealand’s launch of the Niro Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid models in March, and now the company reports strong interest in the all-electric Niro EV recently unveiled in Korea.
KIA’S NEW Carens compact people mover will make its world premier next month at the Paris Motor Show.
Photographs show a new cab-forward design with more room for passengers on the lengthened wheelbase. It also looks sportier than the vehicle it replaces, thanks to a lower roofline and larger (up to 18 inch) wheels that fill the arches.
Kia Motors says the new Carens embodies the theme “responsive space”, meaning more spacious functionality inside the vehicle. The vehicle’s “sporty looks will garner the sort of emotional appeal that is becoming a regular feature of Kia products.” The new model progresses the design concept of the previous seven-seat Carens, says Todd McDonald, general manager of Kia Motors New Zealand.
“It has the hallmarks of advanced design and fresh thinking we have come to expect from Kia and chief design officer Peter Schreyer.”
Details of the Carens are still to be released but it will be evaluated for the New Zealand market.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).