NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 461 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1%. Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia’s revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another “flawless” profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls “the Godfather of AI.” The stock meandered through Thursday as well, dragging the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. How Nvidia’s stock performs has more impact than any other because it’s grown into Wall Street’s most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.7% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ’S Wholesale Club rose 8.3% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ended up rising Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 4.7% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company’s oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. All told, the S&P 500 rose 31.60 points to 5,948.71. The Dow jumped 461.88 to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite added 6.28 to 18,972.42. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Bitcoin got a further boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January . Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors. Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In stock markets abroad, shares of India’s Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world’s richest people is accused of concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.
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LEWISTON, N.Y. (AP) — Jaeden Marshall scored 21 points as Niagara beat Le Moyne 88-69 on Sunday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * LEWISTON, N.Y. (AP) — Jaeden Marshall scored 21 points as Niagara beat Le Moyne 88-69 on Sunday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? LEWISTON, N.Y. (AP) — Jaeden Marshall scored 21 points as Niagara beat Le Moyne 88-69 on Sunday. Marshall shot 5 for 8 (4 for 6 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line for the Purple Eagles (6-7). Justice Smith added 15 points while going 6 of 12 from the floor, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and 2 for 3 from the line and had five rebounds. Zion Russell shot 4 for 7, including 3 for 3 from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points. AJ Dancier finished with 17 points and four steals for the Dolphins (5-10). Le Moyne also got 11 points and 10 rebounds from Ocypher Owens. Dwayne Koroma had nine points and six rebounds. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. AdvertisementMumbai, Nov 23 (IANS): Most of the state elections are now over, and the market may find stability as government spending will improve in the coming months to meet the FY25 capex target, market experts said on Saturday. The Indian benchmark indices recouped the current week’s losses on Friday with a strong bounce back as investors used the bargain opportunity to accumulate beaten-down stocks. Sensex closed at 79,117.11 this week after gaining 1,961.32 points, or 2.54 per cent, and Nifty closed at 23,907.25 with a gain of 557.35 points, or 2.39 per cent. The rally in financial stocks and strong US labour market data were among the factors that drove the Sensex and Nifty up more than 2 per cent. A rally in blue-chip bank stocks also helped the benchmark indices jump in Friday's trade. “Many of the blue chips are available at below-average valuations, while meaningful corrections in mid- and small-cap indices provide an opportunity for broad-based momentum,” said experts. Sectors like realty, FMCG, auto, consumption, banks, and IT gained more than 2 per cent According to Krishna Appala from Capitalmind Research, opportunities exist in specific sectors and broader themes that hold long-term potential, particularly in areas that have experienced significant price adjustments but remain fundamentally strong. “Investors are cautiously adding to positions in areas that offer greater clarity on earnings visibility, especially where the longer-term structural story remains intact. While patience is essential, the sector's adjusted valuations make it an area worth monitoring closely,” Appala maintained. In the broader market, corrections are creating opportunities to accumulate quality stocks with strong fundamentals and resilience to macroeconomic pressures. Despite global challenges, India's long-term growth story remains compelling. "Investors should focus on sectors aligned with structural themes such as urbanisation, infrastructure, and consumption growth. Strategic portfolio adjustments, disciplined investing, and a long-term perspective are critical to navigating the current environment," said experts. On Friday, all sectoral indices ended in the green with Nifty IT surging over 3 per cent. Buying emerged at lower levels in blue-chip stocks causing several index heavy-weights to gain significantly. "On Monday, the market will react to the outcome of state assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand along with other global triggers including developments in the Russia-Ukraine war," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
THE TIMING COULDN’T have worked out better for Ireland’s political parties. A general election round the corner, and lo and behold! A €14 billion Apple has fallen from the magic money tree. The first €3 billion of the sum was transferred to the Irish Exchequer earlier this very month, with billions more to come before the end of the year. Just before the Budget in October, Finance Minister Jack Chambers said the extra cash would be invested in a variety of infrastructure projects, including housing, energy, water and transport. The official spending plan was meant to be approved in early 2025. But where’s the fun in that? The decision to call an election before Christmas, rather than allowing the government to run its full term until early in the new year, means the pot of gold is now up for grabs. That’s why we’ve asked all of Ireland’s major political groups how they would spend the Apple tax money – here’s what they had to say. On housing, €4 billion will go to the Land Development Agency (LDA), the state body tasked with getting affordable homes built on state sites. €2 billion will also go to a new ‘Towns Investment Fund’. €2.5 billion is to be spent improving Ireland’s creaking electricity grid, while €3 billion is to go to Irish Water for similar reasons. On transport, €3.6 billion will go to the slightly vague area of ‘the improvement of transport networks countrywide’, while €2 billion will go towards improving digital technology in the healthcare system. The party wants most of the Apple money to go into housing. Part of this will go into extending two grants for first-time buyers: the Help-to-Buy grant will be increased from a maximum of €30,000 to €40,000 until 2030; and the First Home Scheme will be extended to second-hand homes for five more years. Another part of the money for housing will go into increased building. While €4 billion will go on various energy, water and transport projects. The party said it will give a more detailed plan for the allocation of the funds ‘within 100 days of taking office’. Sinn Féin’s premier idea for the Apple tax money is to start an ‘Equality for Communities Fund’. The money would be allocated on the basis of the Pobal Index, the national deprivation index. The funds would be used for the likes of sports facilities, arts facilities and public spaces. It also said slightly over half the money, €7.6 billion, would be used to build affordable housing. Other key areas the money would be spent on include €2 billion in health, €2.5 billion on a renewable energy fund and €1 billion on redress for Celtic Tiger-era housing defects. Like many parties, housing features heavily in Labour’s plans for the Apple tax money. €6 billion would go towards setting up a new state construction company, which would be developed through the LDA. €1 billion would go on works, such as developing water infrastructure, which would make the land suitable for development. On the climate front, €1 billion would be reserved for offshore wind, while €2.5 billion each would go towards a National Retrofitting Plan and then to developing large-scale transport projects. Finally, €1 billion would be set aside for modernising the health service, such as by digitising records. Approximately €7 billion will go towards major transport projects in urban centres. The party has suggested that this could include the likes of a Luas tram line in Cork. This would be part of a €10 billion transport plan, with the remaining €3 billion coming from unidentified ‘other sources’. The focus would be on major infrastructure projects, such as Metrolink, Luas extensions and heavy rail projects. As mentioned, the €14 billion would be split between housing and climate measures. The party told : ‘50,000 affordable purchase homes and 25,000 affordable rental homes would be delivered’. On the climate side of things, the party said potential projects would include ‘investing in State-owned renewable energy’ and additional grants for retrofitting and solar panels. “Infrastructure, Infrastructure Infrastructure,” leader Peadar Tóibín wrote on X, formerly Twitter, recently, adding that Ireland is “creaking at the seams”. Key areas aligned with those identified by other parties – housing, transport, energy and health. Similar to Labour, PBP wants to use the Apple tax money to set up a state building company. An indication of the scale envisaged is indicated from their comparison to Ireland’s two biggest private housebuilders, Cairn and Glenveagh. “[They] build less than 2,500 homes a year – we need tens of thousands,” the party said. “Funded with the Apple tax revenues, such a body can easily access the land, finance and labour that are needed at scale to directly build at least 35,000 social and affordable homes per year.” The group has not given a detailed breakdown on the Apple funds. Richard O’Donoghue, one of Independent Ireland’s TDs, said in a recent Dáil debate that the Apple tax money should be used for infrastructure, specifically highlighting the lack of affordable housebuilding.
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B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of CoStar Group, Inc. ( NASDAQ:CSGP – Free Report ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 19,888 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,500,000. A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in CoStar Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 4,745 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of CoStar Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CoStar Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 36,255 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in CoStar Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,780,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in CoStar Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 35,075 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.60% of the company’s stock. CoStar Group Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ:CSGP opened at $79.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 9.63 and a current ratio of 9.63. CoStar Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.26 and a one year high of $100.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.39 and a beta of 0.82. Insiders Place Their Bets In other CoStar Group news, CEO Andrew C. Florance purchased 14,731 shares of CoStar Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.67 per share, with a total value of $1,099,963.77. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,263,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,315,527.66. This represents a 1.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . Also, Director Michael R. Klein sold 71,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $5,350,268.77. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,913,501 shares in the company, valued at $142,919,389.69. This represents a 3.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades CSGP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on CoStar Group from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of CoStar Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of CoStar Group from $108.00 to $99.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered CoStar Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on CoStar Group from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.25. View Our Latest Report on CSGP CoStar Group Profile ( Free Report ) CoStar Group, Inc provides information, analytics, and online marketplace services to the commercial real estate, hospitality, residential, and related professionals industries in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company offers CoStar Property that provides inventory of office, industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality, and student housing properties and land; CoStar Sales, a robust database of comparable commercial real estate sales transactions; CoStar Market Analytics to view and report on aggregated market and submarket trends; and CoStar Tenant, an online business-to-business prospecting and analytical tool that provides tenant information. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for CoStar Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CoStar Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Following the election of Donald Trump and his to make swingeing cuts to the federal government, civil servants are said to be quitting in droves. Government insiders said employees were already resigning and looking for work in the private sector amid concern that their roles will be “politicised” under Mr Trump’s second administration. Others fear they will be sacked. Mr Trump has drawn up unprecedented plans to , promising to bring back “Schedule F” – a controversial order he introduced at the end of his first term, which would have made it easier to remove civil servants who disobey him. The move is one measure he has proposed to take on the Washington “swamp”, which he says blocked many of his policy plans between 2017 and 2021. “Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state,” the president-elect told supporters at his first rally of the 2024 election cycle. “The thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced.” , Mr Trump has appointed the billionaire Mr Musk and Vivek Ramaswasmy, an entrepreneur and former Republican primary contender, to run a Department of Government Efficiency. Mr Musk has said he intends to “delete” around 75 per cent of federal agencies, and has railed against bodies he says “serve no purpose apart from the aggrandisement of bureaucrats” with “fake jobs”. He has also called for an in the federal government. His pseudo-agency, “DOGE”, will recommend cuts to be enacted by Mr Trump by executive order. In a recent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy said they plan to reduce the size of the government without passing any new legislation. Among so-called swamp-dwellers, the reaction has been one of blind panic. Jaqueline Simon, the policy director of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said Mr Trump’s victory and his appointment of Mr Musk meant many of the union’s members were planning to desert their posts. “Schedule F would involve reclassifying positions in the civil service and essentially turning them into political appointments,” she said. “People would be fired or hired at will, they could be fired for any reason or no reason, including [their] politics and questions about an individual’s loyalty to Donald Trump.” “I’ve heard people say that if they are ‘Schedule F-d’, they are retiring.” The AFGE was one of the most prolific complainants in judicial reviews against Mr Trump during his first term, challenging his decision to alter collective bargaining clauses in federal workers’ contracts. The organisation is thought to be planning more legal challenges in Mr Trump’s second term, when he will have control of both branches of Congress and a conservative majority on the Supreme Court bench. Meanwhile, Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), said he and his colleagues were when asked about Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy’s plans. The federal government employs almost three million people, many of whom work in Washington DC. The size of the government peaked during the Second World War, then fell sharply in the 1950s before trending upwards into the mid-1990s. It has since declined marginally. The federal debt, however, has continued to rise more sharply than ever before, spurred by stimulus packages and economic life support programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic. It now stands at more than $35 trillion, or $104,000 per person. Mr Trump’s election could see the sharpest reduction in the civil service headcount and spending in decades. But of those who stay, many are planning to fight. “Trump-prepping” is now widespread among government employees, with some citing concerns about working on some of his more controversial policies, including the mass deportation of illegal migrants. The American Civil Liberties Union, a civil rights nonprofit that filed more than 400 challenges to Mr Trump’s policies during his first term, has announced plans to “fight back” against his second administration. Anthony Romero, the organisation’s president, said on the day after the election that it would focus on the four policy areas of , anti-LGBTQ discrimination, abortion rights and legal protections for whistleblowers. The outgoing Biden administration is also trying to , including by passing legislation that would reduce the effectiveness of a second Schedule F if it is passed after Mr Trump’s inauguration. It has also attempted to spend the remainder of a budget allocated to military aid for Ukraine, and to bake in federal grant programmes for green energy and semiconductors that form part of Mr Biden’s “Bidenomics” industrial policy. Jesus Soriano, a federal government scientist at the US National Science Foundation, told The Telegraph he was concerned that Mr Musk would recommend the closure of some research agencies and cut grant funding. Mr Musk’s DOGE has taken to his social media platform, X, to criticise the US government’s decision to fund some research. The agency claimed the government had handed out grants for “$100,000 to study if tequila or gin makes sunfish more aggressive” and “nearly $1 million to study if cocaine makes Japanese quail more sexually promiscuous”. It’s not clear if this was genuinely the case. However, Mr Soriano said a major reduction in federal research funding could see the US slip behind competitors in , semiconductors and other technologies. “The effects will be progressive, when it comes to the lack of development that occurs when the scientific enterprise is disrupted,” he said. “In the long term, it will be difficult to redress.” He added that many of his colleagues are “starting to look for jobs” or “preparing Plan Bs” because of . “There is self censure and fear, so employees are keeping their opinions to themselves, but I do know that many are planning and taking steps to leave through retirement or attrition, which represents a very expensive brain drain,” he said. “Although no reform has been enacted, just the public comments alone are already having an effect.” When Mr Trump takes office on Jan 20, are planning to launch a war on the state with immediate effect. Allies at the America First Policy Institute and Heritage Foundation have spent years preparing hundreds of executive orders to be signed on his first day in the White House – many of which are designed to reform the government. Mr Trump’s plans for revenge on the administrative state are already in motion. But who will win round two?
2024 was a major year for new vehicle launches, with new generations of key models like the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, plus the first of a new wave of Chinese auto brands entering the market. But many models also departed the Australian market, headlined by the departure of what had been the longest-running auto brand in Australia: Citroen. In fact, there were so many discontinuations that we split all the SUVs axed in Australia into a separate article . Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Scroll below for all the passenger cars axed this year, or click on one of the links below to take you directly to a vehicle. BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe If you love the look of the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe , rest assured you’ll still be able to buy a car that looks like this – it’ll just have electric power. BMW revealed updated versions of the 4 Series Gran Coupe and its electric i4 sibling back in April, but never confirmed timing for the combustion-powered model. Somewhat unusually, the electric version sold in considerably greater numbers than the petrol model. To the end of November, BMW sold 1866 i4s in Australia this year, against just 243 examples of the 4 Series Gran Coupe. That led to BMW pulling the plug on the petrol-powered range. “The high volume of new BMW models introduced to the local market prompts us to constantly assess our product portfolio in line with customer demand and our commitment to offering products that suit individual needs,” a BMW Australia spokesperson told CarExpert in a statement. “This has led us to restructure the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe lineup.” The 4 Series Gran Coupe was the second BMW to bear the Gran Coupe nameplate, which has been applied to a five-door liftback (the 4 Series Gran Coupe), a four-door sedan (the 2 Series ), and what you could arguably call four-door coupes (the 6 Series and 8 Series ). This nomenclature was born in a period where BMW was busily chasing niches, including coupe SUVs like the X4 and X6 and the unusual Gran Turismo models which were more upright five-door hatchbacks. The second-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe was revealed in June 2021 and arrived here later that year, sharing the same plunging double-kidney grille as coupe and convertible 4 Series models. While it later gained an electric version, the i4, it never received a full-fat M version like the other 4 Series body styles. There was no M4 version of the first-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe, either. With the axing of the base 420i in 2023, just two variants remained: the turbocharged four-cylinder, rear-wheel drive 430i and the turbocharged six-cylinder, all-wheel drive M440i xDrive. Though the Gran Coupe brought superior practicality over the 3 Series Sedan , if not the Touring wagon, it cost up to $14,100 more than its booted counterpart. 4 Series Gran Coupe sales had peaked in 2015 and 2022 with 858 sales in both years – incidentally, both of which were the first full years of their respective generations. MORE: BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe axed in Australia, i4 EV to live on MORE: Everything BMW 4 Series Citroen C4 and C5 X Citroen had been hanging on like grim death in Australia, even as its sales winnowed away each year. From a height of 3803 sales in 2007, Citroen fell below 1000 annual units in 2016 and continued sliding. Its retail network continued to shrink, and Peugeot Citroen Australia’s decision to make Peugeot its exclusive commercial vehicle brand here killed one of its higher-volume models, the Berlingo. Most embarrassingly for the brand, it was outsold by Ferrari in 2020 and 2021. But there were signs Peugeot Citroen Australia was taking the brand seriously here, introducing the C4 in 2021 and C5 X in 2022. These replaced the old C4 and C5 that hadn’t been on sale here for several years, and came after several years of Citroen focusing on more traditionally SUV-shaped models. Not that the C4 and C5 X were conventional passenger cars themselves, with their higher-riding stances blurring the lines between cars and SUVs. Though it was the C5 X that wore the ‘X’ suffix commonly used for SUVs, it was the C4 that was classified as an SUV in VFACTS industry sales reports. There was a C4 X, mind you, but this was a sedan version of the C4 that we never received. Confused? We were too. Disinterested? Well, it seems Australians were. C4 sales peaked at 94 units in its first full year on sale, before falling; the same happened with the C5 X, with 68 sold in its first full year on sale. From launch to the end of November 2024, Citroen sold just 200 C4s and 168 C5 Xs. The rarest of them all is the C5 X Plug-in Hybrid, for which orders opened in May... just three months before Citroen announced it was pulling up stumps here. Being an order-only vehicle and priced just over $16,000 higher than the regular C5 X, itself not the most affordable vehicle of its size, it may be one of the rarest Citroens ever sold here. The C4 and C5 X may have lacked the clever hydropneumatic suspension of older Citroens, but with their quirky styling and focus on comfort – in suspension tuning and even in the construction of their seats – these cars were distinctively Citroen. Alas, it seems buyers just didn’t care. MORE: Citroen leaving Australia after more than 100 years, importer focusing on Peugeot MORE: Everything Citroen C4 MORE: Everything Citroen C5 X Citroen C3 While we received new generations of Citroen’s small and medium/large cars, the latest C3 – revealed in electric guise in October 2023, and with petrol power in April this year – was kept from us. That was perhaps an early warning that the brand wasn’t going to stick around here for long, and in August this year distributor Inchcape Australia announced it would close orders for all Citroen vehicles. The third-generation C3 arrived here in 2017, with an extremely mild facelift coming in 2021. That means the C3 is much the same as when it arrived here around seven years ago, and sales figures have reflected that. From a height of 122 sales in 2018, sales fell to double digits in 2019 and have subsequently remained relatively steady, if very, very low. The price has climbed since launch and this year sat at $32,267 before on-road costs for the single Shine variant, putting it up against vehicles the segment above. But even comparing it with similarly sized vehicles with similarly premium pricing, the C3 comes up short. From its 2017 launch to the end of November this year, Citroen has sold 544 C3s. In contrast, Audi sold 462 A1s and Skoda sold 433 Fabias in 2023 alone. Showing just how far Citroen sales have dropped off over the years, as well as the decline in light car sales, the brand sold upwards of 908 examples of the first-generation C3 in 2003. MORE: Everything Citroen C3 Fiat 500 The Fiat 500 is cute as a bug, but its ability to survive year after year well after rivals were replaced made it seem like more of a cockroach. It’s still being manufactured, but Fiat announced it was axing the petrol-powered 500 in Australia in August. As of December, however, it still has stock at its dealers. The 500 and its hotter Abarth 595 sibling are sold alongside the new-generation Fiat 500e and Abarth 500e, electric-only micro cars with similar styling but much more modern underpinnings and technology. With the Fiat 500e set to be joined by a mild-hybrid petrol-powered variant in 2026, this should finally spell the end of the old 500, which has been in production since 2007 and which launched here in 2008. In that time, Fiats from the little Panda to the Dodge Journey-based Freemont have come and gone from the Australian market, but the little 500 has kept on ticking with the occasional minor refresh. Though it no longer sells in quite the same volumes as it did in the early/mid 2010s – where it sold between 2000 and 3000 units annually – it still sells in consistent volumes in a segment that consists solely of it and the Kia Picanto . Last year, Fiat sold 581 examples of the 500 and its Abarth sibling in Australia, an increase on the year before despite the axing of their cabriolet models. MORE: Fiat culls petrol 500 in favour of $50k EV hatch in Australia MORE: Everything Fiat 500 Jaguar F-Type When the E-Type ended production in 1974, it left a hole in Jaguar’s lineup. The XJ-S that succeeded it was more of a grand tourer, a tradition which its XK replacement followed in. It wasn’t until the F-Type , which entered production in 2013, that Jaguar had a genuine spiritual successor to the E-Type. An E-Type successor had existed in development hell during the 1980s and 1990s, before Jaguar revealed the F-Type concept in 2000... only for a planned production version to be scrapped before it could see the light of day. Fast-forward to the 2011 Frankfurt motor show and the F-Type as we came to know it was previewed in concept form, albeit featuring a supercharged V6 hybrid powertrain that never reached production. Instead, the production coupe – which looked essentially identical to the concept – was launched with a choice of supercharged V6 or V8 powertrains. Like the E-Type, there was also a convertible; unlike the iconic Jag, there was an all-wheel drive option. Also in a departure from past Jaguar two-doors, a turbocharged four-cylinder engine joined the range. Designed under Ian Callum, the F-Type was widely regarded as gorgeous. Somehow a facelift, revealed in 2019, arguably improved the styling with a more aggressive look up front. The F-Type featured all-aluminium construction, and Jaguar touted the coupe as the most torsionally rigid production car it had ever built. While the four- and six-cylinder powertrains weren’t shrinking violets, the supercharged V8 was the star. For 2022, Jaguar Australia dropped the four- and six-cylinder engines entirely, leaving the blown 5.0-litre in 331kW/580Nm P450 and 423kW/700Nm R tunes. In June 2024, Jaguar revealed the final F-Type and what it says will be its final combustion-powered sports car: a supercharged 5.0-litre V8-powered convertible in classic green-over-tan. A total of 87,731 F-Types were produced between 2013 and 2024. MORE: Jaguar reveals its last-ever petrol-powered sports car, bound for a museum MORE: Jaguar’s last ever petrol-powered sports car is coming to Australia MORE: Everything Jaguar F-Type Jaguar XE When Jaguar used the Ford Mondeo platform to create its first BMW 3 Series rival, many scoffed. To Jaguar’s credit, it went back to the drawing board and developed a rear/all-wheel drive sports sedan with tasteful, modern styling and poised dynamics. Look out, BMW! Except the XE is now being axed almost a decade after it entered production in 2015, as part of Jaguar’s pivot to being a more exclusive, electric-only brand. Jaguar is done trying to take on BMW and is aiming higher, with JLR design boss Gerry McGovern saying in 2023: “What we won’t worry about is being loved by everybody, because that’s the kiss of death.” “That’s what’s put Jaguar where it is today, which is with no equity whatsoever,” he said. The XE never could match its German rivals in the sales race, and JLR confirmed the sedan wasn’t profitable – something likely not helped by its use of aluminium suspension componentry and a bonded and riveted aluminium unitary structure, unusual for this segment. The 3 Series rival was offered with a range of powertrains, including turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines plus a supercharged V6. Jaguar even developed the limited-run SV Project 8, which featured a supercharged V8 engine. Sadly, the SV Project 8 never came here, nor did it presage a more widely available BMW M3 rival. The six-cylinder and diesel engines were also eventually phased out in Australia. Disappointing sales and the resultant lack of profitability doomed the XE, which was axed in the US in 2020 but grimly held on for a few more years in markets such as ours. Unusually, Jaguar Australia switched the XE from rear-wheel drive to all-wheel drive for 2021 for reasons unclear. For 2023, the XE range was whittled down to a single model and, though it still appears on Jaguar’s local website, production ended this year. In its best year, 2016, global sales for the XE reached 44,095 units. The same year, BMW produced over 400,000 3 Series models globally. In Australia, the XE’s best year was also 2016 with 1524 sold, beating the Infiniti Q50 and Volvo S60 and falling just short of the Lexus IS . But sales fell each year, plunging to double-digits in 2022. Last year, the XE was outsold by every single one of its rivals, with its 58 sales bested by the Genesis G70 (81 sales) and Volvo S60 (152). From launch to the end of November 2024, Jaguar sold 4332 XEs in Australia. While rivals received significant facelifts or new generations, the XE was left to soldier on as its lineup shrunk. It’s a sad end for what was an extremely promising BMW 3 Series rival. MORE: Everything Jaguar XE Jaguar XF If any car could make Jaguar’s XE look like a sales success, it’s the second generation of the brand’s BMW 5 Series rival. The first-generation XF was a breath of fresh air when it was revealed in 2007, with the Ian Callum-penned sedan casting aside the shackles of Jaguar’s retro design language in favour of a more modern yet still elegant look inside and out. The second generation wasn’t as impactful. Also attributed to Mr. Callum, the design was conservative, looking more like a stretched version of the XE with which it shared its new platform. Unlike the XE, however, there was a wagon version; this made the trip to Australia, even though the first-generation model was offered here only in sedan guise. Globally, the XF was offered with a choice of turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines, plus a turbo-diesel V6 and a supercharged petrol V6. Sadly, there was no supercharged V8 XFR as there had been with the first generation. To Jaguar Australia’s credit, it offered almost every available powertrain, and even brought the niche wagon here. But the British 5 Series rival was met with buyer apathy: sales shrunk compared to the outgoing model, with just 433 sold in 2016. That was down from the over 800 units Jaguar shifted in 2013 and 2014. Sales fell below three digits in 2019 with 50 units, and below two digits in 2023 with just 6 sold. By this point the XF range had been shrunk to a single variant, as for model year 2021 Jaguar axed all rear-wheel drive, diesel, six-cylinder and wagon variants in favour of a lone all-wheel drive turbo-petrol four-cylinder. MORE: Everything Jaguar XF Maserati Quattroporte Technically, Maserati didn’t sell any Quattroportes in Australia in 2024, with global production wrapping late last year. No further examples were delivered this year but as it appeared on Maserati’s local website during 2024, we’ve included it in this article. The Quattroporte nameplate is taking a leave of absence, with a replacement – featuring electric power – delayed until 2028. It’s not the first time the Quattroporte nameplate has taken a lengthy leave of absence, with gaps of several years between the first and second and the third and fourth generations. The Quattroporte competed in an extremely low-volume segment in Australia, battling the likes of the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class . Maserati executives would therefore clearly bristle at the mention of the Quattroporte sharing a platform with Chrysler and Dodge. “From the Chrysler 300 we carried over the electrical system, a portion on the platform where seats are hinged and some elements of the air conditioning, that is all,” then-Maserati global CEO Harald Wester told Automotive News Europe back in 2013. The current, sixth-generation Quattroporte entered production that year, underpinned by what Maserati called its M156 platform which was also used by the Ghibli and Levante . The gorgeous, lithe Pininfarina styling of its predecessor made way for an in-house design that was more fuller-figured and conservative, with a clear kinship with the cheaper Ghibli. If it looked bigger than the previous Quattroporte, that’s because it was – in length alone, the Quattroporte VI grew by over 200mm. A Ferrari-developed twin-turbo V8 remained available, along with a twin-turbo V6 developed with the Prancing Horse brand. This was also the first Quattroporte to offer a diesel engine, a turbocharged V6 mill sold here from 2014 to 2019. While the Quattroporte had a decade-long production run, there were updates made during this time. In 2016, the Quattroporte received a new infotainment system and more standard equipment including a suite of active safety features. This suite was expanded in a subsequent update in 2018. In 2020, Maserati revealed a hot Trofeo version of its luxury limo, featuring a 433kW/730Nm tune of the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 – up 43kW and 80Nm on the GTS. This coincided with another minor facelift for the Quattroporte line that saw the old Chrysler-derived infotainment system swapped for one running on Android Automotive. The Quattroporte consistently sold in the double digits each year in Australia, before slumping to just three units in 2023. Even in a low-volume segment, that was very low. MORE: Everything Maserati Quattroporte Maserati Ghibli The Ghibli was first a stunning coupe and convertible in the 1960s, then a rather brutalist two-door in the 1990s, before being revived as a BMW 5 Series sedan rival that was revealed at the 2013 Shanghai motor show. It represented a return to a segment which Maserati last occupied in 1995 with the 430, a descendant of the Biturbo. With the introduction of the Ghibli and Levante, which entered production in 2013 and 2016 respectively, Maserati was chasing broader market appeal and therefore greater sales volumes. By the 2000s, after the end of the Biturbo era, its lineup had receded to a small, more exclusive one. In 2013, it announced plans to sell 50,000 vehicles each year around the world in 2015, more than eight times as many as it sold in 2011. The Ghibli used the M158 platform of the new sixth-generation Quattroporte, and shared its twin-turbocharged V6 petrol and turbocharged V6 diesel engines. There was a choice of rear- or all-wheel drive, while an eight-speed automatic transmission was standard across the range. The Quattroporte’s twin-turbo V8 wasn’t added until 2020, while at the other end of the spectrum the Ghibli gained a turbocharged four-cylinder mild-hybrid powertrain. Other changes to the Ghibli during its lengthy run mirrored those of the Quattroporte: new infotainment and a suite of active safety tech for 2017, and an expanded suite in 2018 enabled by the switch to an electric-assisted power steering setup. The Ghibli helped Maserati reach its 50,000-unit target, albeit a couple of years late. Alas, the brand’s sales dropped from then. In 2022, Maserati announced its plans to transition to an EV-only lineup by 2028, but conspicuous by its absence from these plans was the Ghibli nameplate. Instead, both it and the Quattroporte are set to be replaced by a single sedan model bearing the latter’s nameplate, though this has subsequently been delayed to 2028. In Australia, from a height of 345 sales in 2015, the Ghibli gradually declined before an uptick in 2021 to 152 sales. They then slumped to double digits, and just 17 Ghiblis found homes in Australia this year to the end of November. From its debut year, the Levante took over as Maserati’s best-selling vehicle locally, a title it maintained until the launch of the smaller Grecale SUV in 2023. The Ghibli remains on Maserati’s local website, but with production having ended it’s only a matter of time before the nameplate is retired for a third time. MORE: Everything Maserati Ghibli Mini Clubman Even as it rolls out new electric vehicles (EVs) like the Aceman , Mini has updated its long-running three- and five-door hatchbacks and convertible and given them a slightly fresher look. The same treatment hasn’t been extended to the long-running Clubman , which Mini ended production of in February after two generations. It’s probably best to blame the Countryman as, in many markets including ours, given the choice of a wagon or an SUV most buyers will opt for the latter. BMW launched Mini as a standalone brand in 2000, and for the first several years of its life it only sold a hatchback. A convertible followed, before the Clubman was launched as Mini’s third body style. It came during a period where Mini was rapidly and creatively expanding its lineup or, to put it less charitably, throwing things at a wall and seeing what stuck. If debuted in 2007, and was followed in 2010 by the Countryman SUV (which did stick) and the Roadster, Coupe and Paceman (which didn’t). Mini wisely added a pair of conventional rear passenger doors with the second-generation Clubman, which launched in Australia in 2015, replacing the suicide door setup of its predecessor. A more practical alternative to the hatchback it was based on, the second-generation Clubman stuck with the rear barn doors of its predecessor – highly unusual for a wagon in 2024. The second-generation Clubman moved to the UKL2 platform underpinning vehicles like the BMW 1 Series . While this platform was used for a raft of vehicles including BMW and Mini-branded hatchbacks, sedans and even a people mover, the quirky Clubman was the only wagon. While it offered a choice of petrol powertrains (though as with its predecessor, no diesel in Australia), including a hot John Cooper Works model with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive. Between the launch of the second-gen model and the end of November 2024, Mini Australia sold 3143 Clubmans. It was a steady if unexceptional seller, but over the same period Mini sold around twice as many Countryman SUVs. MORE: Everything Mini Clubman Peugeot 508 The 508 may have been the prettiest mid-sized Peugeot since the 406 Coupe of the 1990s, but that wasn’t enough to save it. While it lives on in Europe, in September Peugeot Australia pulled the plug on the liftback and wagon “in response to changing consumer preferences in the segment”. It arguably wasn’t a surprise, given Ford, Kia and Volkswagen, among other brands, had already exited the mid-sized segment. Peugeot sales have also been broadly on a downward trajectory over the past decade. Peugeot Australia added a plug-in hybrid version of the 508 Fastback in 2022, with a Sportwagon PHEV following in 2023. But with one hand Peugeot Australia giveth, and with one another it taketh away. Later in 2023, Peugeot axed the petrol-powered 508s, leaving only the pricier PHEVs. Unusually, the Sportwagon PHEV was introduced after Peugeot revealed a facelifted version of the 508 in Europe, for which it conspicuously didn’t announce specific local launch timing. The facelifted model never came, and when Peugeot UK announced earlier this year it was axing the 508, its local demise appeared inevitable. The second-generation 508’s best year in Australia was 2021, with 240 sold. That was a far cry from the first-generation model which in 2012, its first full year on the market, recorded 1085 sales. In fairness to the 508, mid-sized passenger car sales have fallen over the past decade or so. But in 2023, the 508’s 156 sales saw it outsold by the Volkswagen Passat and Arteon , and even more niche models like the Volvo V60 Cross Country. MORE: Another mid-sized car gets the axe in Australia MORE: Everything Peugeot 508 Renault Megane You can still buy a Renault Megane in Australia, but it’s quite a different creature. The last examples of the RS Trophy hot hatch, the sole remaining member of the combustion-powered Megane range, were sold earlier this year as the new electric Megane E-Tech joined the local lineup. The RS-badged Megane hatch, sent off with a special-edition RS Ultime, was the last member of a once significantly wider lineup of small Renaults. The current, fourth-generation Megane was revealed in 2015 and went on sale locally late in 2016. Wagon and sedan models, introduced in 2017, were dropped in 2019 along with the entry-level Zen hatch, while the RS Sport and RS Cup hatchbacks were axed in 2021. That left just the RS Trophy. Not only was the Australian Megane lineup winnowed down locally, the car was discontinued in almost every market. Turkish production continues, however, of the sedan. This mirrors what happened with the Ford Focus , with a once-wide lineup continually chipped away at in Australia until a single hot hatch was left, before the nameplate was axed entirely. The Focus is also being discontinued globally. Renault only sold 69 Meganes in Australia in 2023. That was well down on the 1259 units it shifted in 2017, its first full year on sale. The Megane RS Trophy (and RS Ultime) used a turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, mated with either a six-speed manual or six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, producing 221kW of power and 420Nm of torque (400Nm in the manual) Those outputs remained competitive even among a growing contingent of hot hatches on the local market. While Renault is moving away from hot petrol-powered models, it’s entering the hot electric hatch fray with both its namesake brand and its Alpine spinoff. It remains to be seen whether these hot EVs will come here, however. MORE: Everything Renault Megane MORE: Every SUV discontinued in Australia in 2024 MORE: Every car and SUV discontinued in Australia in 2023 MORE: Every car discontinued in 2022 MORE: Every car discontinued in 2021 MORE: The cars we lost in 2020