The Drive Five: The week's most interesting stories

As you might be aware, 2021 marks the year CarAdvice and Drive become one – bringing together both sites' top-shelf automotive content under the one banner. For you, dear reader, not much will change. We're still the same team, with the same familiar faces and high standards for our new-car content and love of all things automotive. The only difference is you'll eventually be able to meet all your new-car needs in one place, Drive.

How a Ford Falcon ute became a Nissan The Ute

Once upon a time, in 1980s Australia, Senator John Button came up with a strategy to rationalise our local car manufacturing industry. Dubbed ‘The Button Plan’ (its formal name was Motor Industry Development Plan), the idea was for rival manufacturers to share platforms – and models – across their brands, giving us identical cars, but sporting different manufacturers’ badges. Thus, badge-engineering was born.

2021 Mazda CX-5 price and specs: Sporty GT SP now available

The 2021 Mazda CX-5 range has been updated, and like many of its stablemates, has seen the introduction of a new CX-5 GT SP variant. Mazda has introduced the sporty GT SP to sit below the flagship CX-5 Akera, and above the CX-5 GT, offering dark styling options for buyers. Prices have risen across the range, going up by $210 at the entry to the CX-5 range, up to $1050 for the Akera.

Apple ramps up autonomous car testing as deal with Hyundai-Kia is called off

Apple’s on-again, off-again plans to develop autonomous car technology appear to be slowly ramping back up again – as plans to partner with Korean giant Hyundai-Kia appear to have stalled. An investigative report by Automotive News USA has unearthed autonomous testing data filed by tech giant Apple to Californian authorities.

Toyota e-Palette autonomous vehicles to be rolled out “within the next few years”

Toyota will roll out its all-electric e-Palette autonomous vehicles for commercial applications during the first half of this decade, according to the Japanese manufacturer. The box-like delivery and mobility apparatus are set to undergo rigorous testing this year at Toyota's prototype Woven City – in the foothills of Mount Fuji – to refine the advanced onboard operations management system, which governs logistics, safety, maintenance, and efficiency.

Tesla's $32,000 model to arrive as soon as 2022 – UPDATE: Vehicle to be developed in China

UPDATE, 11 February 2021: Tesla's boss in China, Tom Zhu, has told local state media the electric car company will have its research and development centre up and running within months. Mr Zhu also confirmed the future entry-level Tesla would undergo development at the Chinese facility.

Man allegedly caught driving with hand-painted number plates in SA

A man will face court in South Australia after he was allegedly caught driving a car bearing hand-painted number plates. SA Police said the 26-year-old man was stopped after officers spotted a Mitsubishi sedan travelling without its lights on around 2:00am in Adelaide's north. During this stop, they noticed the car's number plates had been altered to feature hand-painted numbers and letters and the phrase "not stolen OK".