Articles by Stephen Ottley

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.

Love it or hate it, the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) appears to be working.Well, at least in part.For those unfamiliar, the Federal Government’s goal is to get more hybrid and electric vehicles on the road, and to incentivise that it will punish brands that exceed the emissions targets it has set. But car companies will get emissions ‘credits’ for every electric vehicle (EV) they sell, which puts the onus on car makers to sell more EVs.Which explains why every brand from Alfa Romeo to Zeekr is looking to sell more EVs (or plug-in hybrids that help lower the average fleet emission figure) as soon as possible.It also explains why there are some increasingly large EV discounts and more and more affordable EVs hitting the market.For a prime example of this, look no further than Hyundai’s recent announcement of huge discounts across its Kona range, which coincides with the upcoming launch of another new EV model for the brand (its sixth electric option), the Elexio.When we say ‘huge discounts’ that’s not hyperbole, the Kona Electric has been slashed by up to $13,857 on some variants. Every electric Kona variant has been cut by at least $13k, in a likely sign Hyundai Australia is looking to get itself as many EV credits as possible to compensate for the rest of its line-up. Another way to look at this is, Hyundai is effectively making a choice to take a financial hit to help its wider business, and rather than take the hit in the form of a fine, it’s turning it into a positive and handing a massive price saving to potential customers.These price cuts happened to coincide with Hyundai Australia’s new - and independently run - finance arm, Hyundai Capital Australia, striking a deal with the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).The CEFC will commit $60 million to Hyundai Capital, allowing the business to offer discounted interest rates to EV customers for both Hyundai and Kia electric models under the luxury car tax, further stimulating sales.Or at least that is the hope from the government’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.“This CEFC investment will help lower the cost barrier for households and small businesses, making EV ownership more accessible,” Minister Bowen said.“Transport is one of our biggest sources of emissions, and electric vehicles are a key way we cut pollution while saving people money.”At the same time, several other brands are introducing more affordable EVs that are either close to parity with petrol-powered rivals, or in some cases cheaper, further lowering the barriers to entry. The BYD Atto 1 is the prime example of this trend. Starting at just $23,990 (plus on-road costs) it’s the cheapest EV on sale at the time of publication. By contrast, the petrol-powered Mazda2 starts at $28,190 and the Toyota Yaris Hybrid starts at $28,990.The BYD Dolphin and Atto 2, GWM Ora, MG4, Chery E5, Leapmotor B10 and Hyundai Inster can all be purchased for less than $40,000 drive-away.Australians are increasingly adopting EVs, with the more than 100,000 battery-powered vehicles sold in 2025. That took the overall percentage of the new car market to 8.3 per cent, which is small but growing. And it’s likely to continue to grow if EVs continue to get more affordable as NVES and other factors push car companies to find ways to make them more appealing to customers.

For the past two years Chinese car brands seemed to be in the fast lane to sales success — but it looks like at least one brand has hit the brakes.The latest new car sales data, released for January, shows further decline for MG to start 2026 after suffering a significant 18.4 per cent sales drop in 2025. The formerly British brand still held onto its place in the top 10, but will need a quick turnaround to maintain that as the year progresses.Business Director for MG Motor Australia Kevin Gannon said: "A challenging market across the industry makes our upward movement in ranking hard fought. January results reflect how MG Motor is entering 2026 with a great expanded product line up suited to local needs, we've been here for 10 years, we're planning for the next 10 years and more, and that we're fully committed to being the brand of choice of Australian drivers this year."The 2025 result was particularly notable given the brand’s aggressive product expansion last year, with the new-generation HS and MG3 as well as the all-new QS and S5 SUVs plus the much-hyped U9 ute. On top of this, there was the launch of the IM Motors sub-brand, which adds its sales to MG’s total.Former MG Australia boss Peter Ciao, had high expectations, telling CarsGuide in April last year that he was anticipating around 60,000 sales thanks to the expanded line-up. In the end the brand finished with 41,298.The January results show major year-on-year declines for the MG3 (down 38.6%), MG4 (down 63.9%) and MG5 (down 91.4%). The good news for the brand is both the HS (up 38.5%) and ZS (up 4.5%) remain popular with buyers.However, the problem for the brand appears to be the acceptance of its new models. The QS in particular has struggled to make a major impact in the large SUV segment, finishing 2025 with just 1023 sales, compared to the most popular model in the class, the Ford Everest, which sold more than 26,000 units.The U9 also failed to make a major difference to MG’s Australian hopes, despite getting to market quickly and with a competitive price. It averaged just 157 sales per month after going on sale in October, well below the most popular models in the segment.Ciao’s aspirations of MG becoming a top three brand in the country appear to be on the backburner for now, with new management set to be installed following this sales slide.MG parent company, SAIC Motor International (SMIL), announced in early January that Quing Zhang, currently the Vice President of SMIL will add CEO of MG Australia and New Zealand to his responsibilities, replacing Ciao. He will not be based at the company’s Sydney office however, instead Felix Jiang has been appointed as Senior Vice President for Australia and New Zealand and will be based here to lead the day-to-day operations.“SAIC Motor has established an excellent footing in the ANZ market over the past decade, and we now look forward with great excitement to fuelling our next phase of growth by introducing innovative products that deeply resonate with and meet local demands,” Zhang said at the time of his appointment.A leadership change is typical when a brand fails to reach its sales targets, and doesn’t negate the work that Ciao did in the eight years he led the local operation. But it is clear that MG is headed in the wrong direction on the sales charts so something needed to change.Whether or not the brand can recover in time, or will now have to play a supporting role behind the more popular Chinese brands — BYD, GWM and Chery — remains to be seen.