Articles by Stephen Ottley

Australians are still buying cars at a rapid rate but should we be more patient?Some of the most exciting new models are still months away from hitting showrooms. In this article we’ll reveal the five newcomers that should have you staying calm and holding steady for a few more months.Toyota RAV4 PHEVThe new RAV4 is headed into showrooms very shortly, but the brand is saving the most important new variant until later in the year. That would be the new, long-awaited RAV4 plug-in hybrid (PHEV), which will come in the final months of the year to push back against the rising tide of PHEV rivals.While Toyota may be a latecomer to this PHEV party, the specifications sound promising. The RAV4 PHEV will offer a 227kW, all-wheel drive variant with up to 150km of electric-only driving range for the flagship GR Sport model. There will also be a 200kW, front-wheel drive XSE variant.Toyota Australia has already revealed pricing for the pair, with the XSE starting at $58,840 and the GR Sport from $66,340. So if that sounds appealing, all you have to do now is wait…Mazda CX-5Sure, it won’t have a hybrid option initially, but the arrival of a new CX-5 is still something worth waiting for. The brand has taken an evolutionary approach to this new model, which is a good thing considering its long-running popularity.While the turbocharged engine has been dropped and the hybrid won’t arrive until 2027, the new CX-5 will have a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, stylish looks and a roomy cabin. But will that be enough to ward off the challenges from the RAV4, BYD Sealion 6 and 7, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage? That remains to be seen, but if you’re in the market for a mid-size SUV in ‘26 you will want to wait and see what the CX-5 offers before you make your decision.Chery UtePlug-in hybrid utes are all the rage at this moment in time and you could choose to jump into a Ford Ranger PHEV, BYD Shark 6 or GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV right now. Or you could wait until the end of the year when Chinese brand Chery launches the first turbo diesel PHEV ute.Previewed as the KP31 concept already, the new ute should look the part and by combining the preferred diesel power with the new PHEV technology it could be a gamechanger for the ute market.Obviously a lot of its success will be dependent on its price, but Chery has already earned a reputation for being one of the most aggressive brands when it comes to pricing. Which means this could be worth the wait for anyone looking for both a fuel efficient and affordable new ute.Honda PreludeIf you’re looking for a new sports car, like a Ford Mustang EcoBoost, Nissan Z or even a Honda Civic Type R, you may not want to rush in. That’s because Honda is due to reintroduce the famous Prelude nameplate to Australia by the end of the year.Making its return after more than 25 years in the wilderness, the Prelude picks up where it left off. The new version remains a stylish coupe based on a front-wheel drive platform, in this case the same underpinnings as the Honda Civic.While not based on the red hot Civic Type R, the Prelude is expected to have a version of the hybrid powertrain from the Civic e:HEV - a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine paired to an electric motor for 149kW of power.While it may not be as potent as the Type R, the Prelude will turn heads with its sleek looks. Which is why it could be worth waiting for if you want to stand out from the pack.BMW iX3Finally, for anyone considering a premium electric vehicle in 2026, the BMW iX3 is probably worthy of consideration - even if it’s not due here until later in the year.While EVs are in a precarious position at the moment, the German brand has poured all of its latest and greatest technology into the new model to give it its best chance of success. This is the first model of the so-called Neue Klasse platform of vehicles, which will spawn the next-generation 3 Series too.It also features the next revolution of BMW design, with a bold new look that will undoubtedly polarise opinions when it arrives.More importantly, BMW claims this electric SUV will have up to 805km of range and will arrive with the punchy 345kW/645Nm iX3 50 xDrive variant that can sprint 0-100km/h in just 4.9 seconds.

Tesla and full self-driving are synonymous with each other - even if not always for the right reasons. But China’s IM Motors (which is sold locally by MG) is hoping to squeeze its own name into the conversation as it plots to bring its own autonomous technology to Australia in the near-future.Speaking to CarsGuide, Steven Xu, IM Motors Region General Manager for Asia Pacific, said full self-driving is a key element of its Digital Chassis platform which helps to underpin the car's safety systems.Currently, the brand is undertaking a real-world test in China, where a fleet of its cars are evaluating Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous technology on both highway and surface streets, which is a first for a Chinese trial.“Right now the Chinese government is supporting our company to do some tests,” Xu explained “So right now in China, we support the L2, L3 and L4 autonomous driving, and we run a robotaxi fleet team in the Shanghai Pudong airport.“But when we go to the global market, that’s up to the regulation. For the next coming car, the new model, right now that is secret. We will let the car keep the ability to upgrade the autonomous driving system. But first the need to meet the European and Australian regulations.”Xu explained that the Australian Government hasn’t allowed IM to bring its Level 3 autonomous driving technology, which includes LiDAR as well as cameras and sensors, to local roads due to restrictions. However, help appears to have come from an unlikely source.“ I think the government first opened the door to Tesla, so we can follow,” Xu explained. “ Before the Tesla, we had no channel to talk to the government about whether we can use L2 plus. That's the reason , it's not legal or not legal. We thank Tesla for first coming with the technology so we can follow.”While Tesla relies only on cameras and sensors, Xu said IM Motors wants to introduce the next evolution of full self-driving technology in Australia. This means including LiDAR in addition to the cameras and sensors to ensure greater safety. “The LiDAR is the double protection for the customer in the foggy weather, on the rainy day, it's maybe stronger than a pure visual . We want to keep safety first, 100 per cent,” Xu said. “We want the system more reliable and a hundred percent safe. That's why we chose the combination, even though we got the pure vision strategy.” Xu wasn’t able to reveal when IM Motors’ new autonomous functionality would be in Australia, but given the need to add the LiDAR hardware it would likely come with the next-generation of models bound for local showrooms.Seemingly a likely next addition for the brand is its range of luxury large SUVs in the form of the LS8 or LS9, which both can be equipped with LiDAR technology, and also are equipped with range-extender hybrid systems, unlike the rest of the brand's EV-focused range.He also conceded there is also still work to be done on the legislative side to ensure that the iM Motors system complies with Australian laws and regulations which remains a work-in-progress for both governments and car makers.

Toyota is looking to accelerate into the future at full speed, leaving its ‘whitegoods on wheels’ image trailing in the dust.And it all stems from the top down, with Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda allowing his love of performance cars and motorsport to trickle down across its entire global operation - including Australia.Toyota’s performance sub-brand, Gazoo Racing (GR), began life as Toyoda’s personal racing team. As he put his own mark on the company his grandfather founded during his time as Toyota President, GR became more and more prominent. Under his leadership Toyota revived its sports car program, launching the GR 86 and GR Supra, as well as launching the GR Yaris and GR Corolla hot hatches.Even after stepping down as president in 2023, Toyoda’s influence continues to be felt across the company. John Pappas, Toyota Australia’s Vice President National Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, said that Toyoda’s focus on ensuring the brand changed its image has impacted many local decisions.“Akio’s philosophy actually is all about producing ever better cars,” Pappas said. “He actually talks about that. I'm pretty sure you can look him up talking about ever better cars some time ago when we went through this great phase.“I look at it and I think that just inspires all of us globally to continue to build, particularly the GR brand in this case. To see how the GR brand's evolved from 2015 globally to where it is today, and the various products now that form within GR, like the GR 86 and the GR Supra, the GR Yaris, the GR Corolla. We love to see that expansion and what we've seen today, the trajectory we're on, we continue to build on the GR brand. So, absolutely, we want to continue to build on that.”This includes the decision from Pappas’ predecessor in his role, Sean Hanley, greenlighting Toyota’s entry into the local Supercars racing series with a V8-powered GR Supra. Hanley admitted at the time that the company had been evaluating a racing entry for more than 20 years and the rise of GR made it the right time to finally commit.So much so that the highly-expensive racing program isn’t focused purely on increasing Toyota’s sales volume but rather to promote the GR brand both externally and internally to continue the path Toyoda set the brand on.“ Look for us, actually, this is not about selling more cars,” Pappas said. “It's actually more about building the GR brand, building on the GR brand. And it's really more about what I said before about just learning. Learning to build better cars, better people.“They're the two key things for us. Right? This is not about more sales and trying to sell more cars. It's about building better vehicles, better people, and building the GR brand.”

The numbers don’t lie. Australians love Chinese-built cars.Chinese-made vehicles accounted for more than 221,000 sales in Australia in 2025. That was nearly 20 per cent of all cars sold locally, making it the third-largest country to send cars here behind only Japan and Thailand. That figure represents a 25 per cent increase on 2024, and a massive 190 per cent jump from five years ago.Which explains why the newest model from Hyundai, a brand synonymous with sourcing its cars from South Korea, has turned to China for help. The all-new Elexio is the sister-model to the Kia EV5, both are built on Hyundai’s globally-developed E-GMP electric vehicle platform, but both are manufactured in China in a bid to cut production costs.In theory this is working well, with the Elexio priced from $59,990 drive-away as its introductory price, which is much cheaper than the similarly-size, but South Korean-built Ioniq 5, which starts at $76,200 plus on-road costs.Kia’s EV5 range is priced from $56,770 for the entry-level Air Standard Range variant, but it does stretch up to $71,770 for the GT-Line Long Range. Speaking at the launch of the Elexio, Hyundai management made no secret that it has become more open minded to where its cars come from, rather than sticking to its traditional South Korean base.“We've been pretty open to ,” said Tim Rodgers, Product Development Manager for Hyundai.“We're currently sourcing from Turkey and Czech Republic already, and we've got factories everywhere. We’re constantly studying and assessing the viability. So anything that pops up onto the radar that becomes viable is just a huge benefit to us, especially as a right-hand-drive model.” But there is still a clear gap between these Hyundai-Kia Chinese models and those from Chinese brands, such as Geely, Leapmotor and Deepal, which are more than $15,000 cheaper in some cases.Hyundai Australia Chief Operating Officer Gavin Donaldson believes some Chinese companies are "pulling other levers" to achieve those prices, which is a polite way to suggest these brand’s Australian prices are subsidised by head office.Rodgers, though, says Hyundai Australia’s isn’t looking to source more cars from China simply because production costs are lower. “I mean it's not just that. We've got a whole R&D facility in China as well, right,” he explained. “So we are leveraging that, the proximity to us to be able to assess our market, visit us, support our market. It's a level of support that's great to have from not just Korea but China as well. So a huge benefit.”While the EV5 is the only Kia built in China, Hyundai’s joint-venture operation in the country, Beijing Hyundai, makes several models including the Elantra (i30 Sedan), Sonata, Tucson and Santa Fe - although not all are available in right-hand drive.Beijing Hyundai has actually suffered a steep sales decline in recent years, as the domestic Chinese brands emerged as serious players both home and abroad. The creation of the research and development centre mentioned by Rodgers came in 2024, as the company looked to improve its fortunes and fights back against the likes of BYD, GWM and Chery in both China and Australia.What this ultimately means for Australian customers remains to be seen, with Hyundai management not revealing any new models for our showrooms anytime soon, but there is clearly an openness to cars built not only in China but other low-cost manufacturing bases in order to better compete in the changing market.

The team behind some of Australia’s most beloved performance cars could hold the key to Toyota’s Ford Ranger Raptor rival.Walkinshaw Automotive Group (WAG) has strengthened its ties to the Japanese automotive giant for 2026, with its racing spin-off, Walkinshaw TWG Racing, becoming the factory-backed Toyota team in the Supercars Championship, running a pair of V8-powered GR Supras.This is on top of its established operation converting the Toyota Tundra pick-up from left- to right-hand drive. With Toyota and WAG now more tightly connected, it naturally raises the question of the partnership expanding, and both Toyota Australia chief, John Pappas, and WAG boss, Ryan Walkinshaw, have opened up on the future of the relationship.“ Toyota is a major partner of Walkinshaw Automotive Group,” Walkinshaw explained. “Obviously we've got a successful program going on with Tundra. They're obviously always talking with all of our manufacturing partners about other opportunities, we’d be silly not to. We've proposed different ideas, they propose different ideas to us.“We're always exploring those kinds of things. But at the moment, our focus is ensuring that our Tundra program is a huge success here in Australia. And after that, if there's other exciting products that may or may not exist in the future as a partnership with our two brands, then we'll let you guys know. But for now, it's focusing on making sure that these things win races and making sure that this man sells lots of Tundras.”Selling more Tundras is a priority, with the full-size pick-up among the slowest sellers in the segment in 2025. Toyota sold just 469 Tundras last year, well behind the Ram 1500 (3239), Chevrolet Silverado (2389) and Ford F-150 (2428). Assuming Toyota and WAG can grow the Tundra program, a logical next-step for the pair is the possibility of a GR-badged version of the new HiLux. That’s because if Toyota Australia wants to take on the Ranger Raptor directly it will likely have to take matters into its own hands, as there is limited global appetite for such a model.Fortunately, WAG already has experience in this department. Not only is it the company that began as Holden Special Vehicles, it currently builds high-performance versions of the Volkswagen Amarok.While neither Pappas or Walkinshaw made any specific reference to a ‘GR’ or high-performance version of the HiLux, given the popularity of the Ranger Raptor, Amarok W580 and Nissan Navara Warrior it would be a logical choice.The reception to the new Toyota HiLux has been lukewarm - it may be selling well but critics have been underwhelmed by the fact it remains an evolution of the previous version, rather than an all-new model. Adding a Walkinshaw-enhanced version to create a new flagship would be a boost, especially as it can now be tied in to Toyota’s growing GR performance sub-brand that is prominently featured in motor racing.“ We already had a good relationship and partnership with Walkinshaw and now expanding into the Supercars with this GR Supra,” Pappas said. “We continue to build and our focus right now is exactly on those two things. It's about selling more Tundras and, you know, getting that brand expanded as well, as a model line and you know, trying to learn through the GR V8 Supra. So that's the focus for now. But you know, as we grow we could look at other things.”In other words, watch this space...

It’s no secret Toyota wants to revive the Celica nameplate. Now, thanks to a Portuguese rally fan, the new Celica is no longer a secret at all.

A new hope emerges for once-favourite car body styles in Australia.

Three recent news stories, that were seemingly unrelated, may shake-up the entire automotive landscape around the globe.Newton’s Third Law of Motion tells us that for every action, there is an equal or opposite reaction. Basically, when an object or thing exerts force one, an equal amount of force is projected the opposite way.This is relevant because three very different, and seemingly unconnected, events of recent weeks have set the foundation for an entirely new world order across the car industry.Firstly, the European Union has begun backtracking on its much-hyped plan to ban all petrol and diesel new vehicle sales by 2035. Secondly, more recently, the US government announced it was reversing a key scientific finding that had shaped its car industry for the past 15 years. Finally, the Chinese government announced it will ban yoke-style steering wheels, following its earlier ban on flush-finished door handles, while also pushing for more physical buttons (rather than screens).So what brings all these stories together? Well, as Newton tells us, as both the European Union and the USA start to falter on their future plans, the Chinese car industry is positioning itself to become the global leader.The challenge for carmakers is they transcend both borders and political terms, for the most part. Election cycles are typically every four years or so in most countries, but car companies simply cannot operate on such short-term thinking.So, while on paper, the scrapping of emissions laws in America means the likes of Chevrolet, Ram, Ford and the rest can start pumping out V8-powered pick-ups at record pace, the long-term reality of that is very different.There is no question that governments - and the automotive industry - have deeply mis-read the electric vehicle market and the expected timeline it will take to shift the majority of new-car buyers out of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.Electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for less than 20 per cent (17.4% to be precise) of total vehicle sales in Europe in 2025, with petrol and diesel engines still making up 35.5 per cent - the largest share of the total market.However, while the US and Europe are having to make changes and roll back legislation, the Chinese industry continues to push forward. Coupled with the enormous domestic buying power of the Chinese market, plus the continued aggressive international expansion - which includes recently negotiated new deals in Europe and Canada - and it suggests the balance of power is tipping in a new direction.While the US effectively unleashes its auto industry to produce cars with no emissions limits, the Chinese are imposing not only stricter fuel economy for ICE models but also higher expectations of EV energy consumption.Whether you prefer an ICE or EV, the average motorists doesn’t want to pay more for fuel/electricity than they have to - that’s a fairly standard consumer sentiment around the world. So while deregulation may make it easier for US brands to make cleaner and less-efficient vehicles, that isn’t always a good thing - as the Australian experience demonstrates.The governments here gave significant leeway to Holden, Ford and Toyota to not match increasingly cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles from Europe. That undoubtedly helped the industry at the time, but it also meant customers looked elsewhere for a new car that would cut their ongoing running costs. In the end, the Australian industry faltered and failed anyway, and now the industry has been forced into a dramatic catch-up (the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards) that is causing stress across the entire market.Will we see a similar trend in the years to come? Perhaps the American auto industry will become increasingly inwards focused, targeting the US domestic market. European and other international brands will see it as an opportunity to push through existing ICE technology into the US as well, while limiting the EV push to those markets more eager to embrace it.It will mean the US industry falls behind the rest of the world (again), but perhaps more importantly, opens the door for the Chinese industry to position itself as a global leader. A market that sets the trends and expectations for not only its own country, but Australia and the rest of the world that are looking for more efficient models, whether they are petrol, hybrid or electric powered.Only time will tell, but the events of recent weeks may have ramifications that shake up the global automotive industry for decades to come.

Tesla is Australia’s most popular electric vehicle (EV) brand… but for how much longer?

Have you ever felt like things are spiralling out of control lately? That horrible feeling that you know something is wrong and people are standing idly by and allowing it to happen regardless?I have increasingly felt that way about new car safety, so much so I feel the time has come to draw a line in the sand.Let me be clear from the beginning — safety should be everyone’s top priority in the car industry. Whether it’s engineers, designers, salespeople and even us motoring writers - we should all be doing our best to ensure that you (the new car buyer) get the safest car possible.However, in recent years I have started to feel that new car safety has not only stopped improving consistently, but has actually begun to regress. Why? The over-reliance on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the seemingly inconsistent way it is applied to new vehicles and equally inconsistent ways cars with poor technology are applauded by third parties and hailed as superior.I am fortunate enough to drive dozens of new cars every year and increasingly the difference between good active safety systems and bad ones are becoming more and more apparent, frankly annoying and distracting.The systems I’m talking about are ones like ‘driver attention monitoring’, ‘speed limit recognition’, ‘active lane keeping assistance’ and similar. Good versions of these systems keep you alert, informed and safe. Bad versions of these systems are distracting to the point of dangerous.That’s because, unfortunately, for many brands adding these active safety systems became a box ticking exercise, simply having them was enough as they weren’t tested in the real world by safety authorities, even though brands were punished for not having them.As Peter Matkin, Chery’s Director of International Engineering for International Programs, told me last year, many of these systems are developed by third-party suppliers who are simply working to a theoretical range and aren’t practically applying it to real-world situations.“When we started with all of the ADAS work, we were effectively just meeting legislation,” Matkins conceded. “We told the suppliers, this is the legal requirement, we need to meet this. So from a supplier perspective, he doesn't care whether the car bounces between the lanes. He doesn't care. When I drive the car, I say, ‘this is shit, we're not selling this.’ So, you know, we now give a lot more targets now, to the supplier.”That’s a refreshingly honest answer from a car company engineer and it’s good to know that people like Matkin are working to ensure that systems actually work for customers on the road and not just on a piece of paper.Recently I drove a new vehicle that beeped incessantly, any time the speed limit changed or if I didn’t slow down fast enough, or even if I just looked away. Literally, on several occasions it beeped to warn me that I was ‘mildly distracted’ at which point I looked down to see what the beeping was about (in case it was something dangerous) only for the system to then beep again and tell me I was ‘moderately distracted’ — by the car’s own beeps! The end result of poorly calibrated ADAS is drivers will find a way to turn it off, which unfortunately tends to be required every time you start the car - which is a deliberate requirement from legislators that typically travel in the back seats, rather than the driver’s seat…What’s the difference between a car that doesn’t have active lane keeping and one that does, but has such a bad system the driver turns it off every time they start the car? Both cars operate the majority of the time without the system, so a sub-standard system is effectively useless. ANCAP, to its credit, has updated its testing protocols for 2026 to try and address some of these issues. Its testing will now try and provide a more detailed analysis of how the various active safety systems work and encourage more seamless operation.Because, make no mistake, properly calibrated ADAS can work and when it does it’s brilliant. Some brands are clearly spending more time on these systems than others, and the net result is a safer experience for the driver without any of the irritating distraction of endless beeps and warnings.Unfortunately, the recent rush to ensure all these systems were installed regardless of functionality means there will be a generation of dangerous distracting cars on our roads for the foreseeable future.