Australia is likely one of the most cluttered automotive markets on this planet, with greater than 50 manufacturers combating for barely 1,000,000 gross sales a 12 months.
However despite the fact that we’re frankly spoiled for alternative, that doesn’t imply we don’t miss out on issues that might in all chance do nice enterprise right here.
Usually there are the reason why Australian sellers get missed: Possibly there’s no enterprise case for right-hand drive manufacturing, possibly there’s extreme demand from different areas sucking up all the availability, maybe native Design Guidelines throw a spanner within the works.
However hey, let’s have a little bit enjoyable with it and counsel one automobile that every of the market’s prime 10 manufacturers by gross sales ought to carry to Australia, which they presently don’t provide (nor plan to). Sure there are logical explanations, however let’s look previous that!
The highest 10 manufacturers record is present to the time of writing, which means January to November.
Toyota
New Prius
This one’s simple, I even wrote the opinion column already! And it’s a automotive that’s made in RHD and available.
Think about my shock at seeing the new-generation Toyota Prius when it was revealed in November. The world’s largest automotive firm fretted over how you can reinvent its hybrid icon in an period outlined by full-electric automobiles, selecting giving it some newfound panache.
It seems to be nice – glossy, trendy and completely not like what we’ve come to count on from Toyota’s longstanding eco chief. The previous mannequin was all creases and bizarre proportions, whereas a number of earlier generations had been maybe much less awkward but additionally extra boring, which is worse.
And but it’s this newest model, which has me all starry-eyed, that would be the first Prius Toyota received’t promote in Australia. In making this resolution, it took the incorrect lesson from the previous mannequin’s failure to resonate, and pulled the pin at exactly the incorrect time.
Mazda
Mazda 3 Turbo
I used to be tempted to counsel the US-market CX-50 however I reckon Mazda has fairly sufficient SUVs already.
What it lacks is a high-performance model of its stylish Mazda 3 hatch, regardless of the automotive providing nice dynamics and racy seems to be. This isn’t so within the USA, the place the Mazda 3 Turbo is a member of the line-up, rivalling the Volkswagen Golf GTI and all the remainder.
It runs a model of the two.5-litre turbocharged engine utilized in Australia within the CX-5 and varied others, producing a potent 186kW of energy and 420Nm, mated to an on-demand AWD system.
Granted, it solely comes with a six-speed computerized and no three-pedal possibility, which is a damaging, however you possibly can’t win ’em all. I’d nonetheless like to have a crack.
Kia
Sportage Hybrid
Whereas it’s extremely tempting to say the Telluride massive SUV purely as a result of it seems to be nice, the actual reply is the Sportage Hybrid.
Sure, Kia’s petrol-electric hybrid Sorento and Niro are in extremely tight provide and it’s the identical state of affairs for the bigger-selling Sportage – therefore its absence – however that’s no defence.
The Toyota RAV4 hybrid is Australia’s hottest SUV and desires some competitors. The Sportage is among the many finest mid-sized SUVs on the market, however between its turbo-petrol and its diesel engine possibility there’s scope for a hybrid.
Why? Australians love them. They usually price little greater than a daily petrol and slash gasoline payments. The Korean-market Sportage Hybrid makes use of a 130kW 1.6-litre petrol engine and a 44kW drive motor powered by a small battery, and cuts gasoline use to about 6L/100km.
Mitsubishi
eK X EV
Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV might have been a weird-looking, impractically tiny and wildly costly automotive, it was additionally a dead-set pioneer. In spite of everything, it was an all-electric automotive offered in Australia in 2010.
Fittingly Mitsubishi has simply revealed what’s a religious i-MiEV successor, which means a tiny electrical Kei automotive aimed squarely at Japan known as the Mitsubishi eK X EV. At 3.4 metres lengthy, it makes the 4.1m Mazda 2 look massive.
Sadly, this time round it is not going to make it to Australian shores, regardless of the actual fact most of us reside in congested cities, and regardless of rampant demand for affordable EVs. We reckon there’d be a market in inner-urban areas, even when it will wrestle to fulfill native necessities.
Regardless of its tiny 20kWh battery, the Mitsubishi weighs solely 1080kg, gives an city vary of 180km, and even two-way vehicle-to-load energy. Its drive motor makes 47kW of energy and a potent 195Nm of torque, and its regenerative braking operate permits one-pedal driving.
Hyundai
Grandeur
Keep in mind the Hyundai Grandeur? It was the corporate’s flagship sedan in Australia between 1999 to 2011 throughout two generations. Whereas it was retired from native showrooms, the nameplate troopers on at dwelling in Korea, with a model new model revealed in October.
The profile is outlined by a single character line operating horizontally from headlight to tail-light, over clear and uncluttered flanks, with frameless doorways and flush handles. Relatively than a conventional three-box form, the D-pillar has a gentler slope to lend a fastback silhouette.
Regardless of the futuristic look, its engines are old-school inside combustion – to start out with at the least. Choices embrace a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol, a 3.5-litre six-cylinder petrol, and a 1.6-litre petrol-electric hybrid.
The cabin is billed as “an oasis for rest and restoration”. Designers used actual wooden, aluminium, and naturally dyed Nappa leather-based quilted in a conventional Korean sample. Sure we all know sedans are dying, however let’s not faux this isn’t cool.
Ford
Maverick
My coronary heart says Bronco, my soul says F-150 Raptor, however my head is aware of what’s up. Aussies love their utes, and there’s 100 per cent a marketplace for right-hand drive, car-based light-duty fashions.
The US-focused Maverick (no, not the rebadged GQ Patrol) isn’t any body-on-frame off-roader, moderately it’s a unibody constructed on the identical bones because the Ford Escape and Bronco Sport, geared toward metropolis slickers who desire a ute that doesn’t drive like a truck.
Measuring up at 5072mm lengthy on a 3076mm wheelbase, 1844mm huge, and 1745mm tall, the Maverick is 374mm shorter and 133mm narrower than a Ranger. Hybrid energy is customary within the USA, though there’s a petrol-only possibility.
I’m sure {that a} RHD model – not that rampant US demand makes this final result a possible state of affairs – would give Ford one other smash hit just like the Mustang, Everest and Ranger.
MG
MG 5 EV
China’s MG has rocketed up the gross sales charts, and is an electrical automotive chief with the ZS EV (AKA Australia’s most cost-effective electrical automotive) on sale now and the circa $40,000 MG 4 EV hatch coming quickly.
However one possibility that doesn’t come right here, however does get offered within the RHD UK market, is the MG 5 EV electrical wagon with greater than 500km of claimed driving vary, V2L performance, and a sizeable 578L boot.
In England it additionally prices £1500 than the ZS EV ($A2700), which means it will perhaps sneak in beneath $50,000 given the ZS’s $44,990 drive-away entry level.
Certain, it isn’t essentially the most thrilling trying automotive, however sensible and inexpensive EVs are one thing Australia wants extra of, not fewer of.
Isuzu Ute
D-Max Arctic Vans AT35
There aren’t many Isuzu merchandise that don’t come to Australia, given the model solely makes the D-Max and MU-X they usually’re each vastly well-liked right here.
Arguably the one blind spot is the absence of a rugged range-topping modified D-Max offered in sellers, to rival the HiLux Rogue, Navara Professional-4X Warrior and all the remainder.
This isn’t the case for our associates within the UK, the place the Isuzu D-Max Arctic Vans AT35 is offered. It comes with wild flares, Bilstein suspension, and chunky all-terrain tyres.
Granted, variations offered on the European continent make do with the 1.9-litre diesel moderately than the three.0-litre favoured by Australians, however that small and simply rectified difficulty apart, it seems to be a winner.
Subaru
BRZ Cup Automotive fundamental
The Subaru BRZ coupe is about essentially the most enjoyable you possibly can have along with your garments on, however what us automotive fans would really like much more?
A stripped-out one with metal wheels, guide gearbox solely, no display screen inside, a cooling system replace, and pre-fitment bolts for a racing harness.
In different phrases, nearly nothing to distract you from a 173kW and 250Nm, high-revving flat-four engine and rear-wheel drive chassis.
How a few particular version, Subaru Australia?
Volkswagen
T-Roc Cabriolet
Alright, bear with me. Volkswagen Australia has a historical past right here with short-lived convertibles such because the Golf Cabrio, the Eos, and naturally the Beetle.
In Europe the corporate’s drop-top of alternative is predicated on the funky T-Roc small SUV, with a chopped roof and two fewer doorways.
At 4.3m lengthy it’s roughly the dimensions of the smooth prime Golf 6 (RIP), its roof drops in simply 9 seconds, and it has the in-vogue high-riding SUV model. Granted, the Vary Rover Evoque soft-top was a failure, however this may be cheaper.
The engine is a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol with a modest 115kW and 250Nm, however who wants punch for seaside cruising?