The best new cars in 2024! From family hatchbacks to superbly-executed 4WDs and groundbreaking EVs, these are CarsGuide's Top 10 rated cars of the year

There’s nothing like living with a car for an extended period to become thoroughly familiar with its day-to-day pluses and minuses. And Senior Journalist Laura Berry did just that over three months with this year’s top-rated model, the mid-spec Earth version of Kia’s large, seven-seat EV SUV, the EV9.

Despite the car’s substantial price tag relative to internal-combustion, three-row favourites like the Ford Everest and Toyota Prado, Laura appreciated the Kia’s comfort, performance, practicality and ease of driving. In fact, she thinks it’s more than a match for high-end, luxury models costing much more. 

The Genesis brand has steadily crept up on the Australian luxury car market and the GV80 Coupe is one of its most distinctive designs. 

Chief FamilyGuide reviewer Emily Agar was impressed by its value-for-money, leading ownership package and overall comfort. She even noted her husband and young son became fans after the sleek Genesis spent a week transporting the Agar household.

Toyota’s Camry has been an Aussie staple over many decades and the arrival of a new-generation version is always big news.

And the headline for Contributing Journalist Emily Agar is that this newcomer maintains and even enhances the long-serving nameplate’s reputation for comfort, value and practicality. She also loves the way the car looks and its sparkling new on-board tech.

Making a pure-electric hot hatch that’s more than a generic fast EV experience is the holy grail for many carmakers and in the eyes of Contributing Journalist Stephen Ottley Hyundai has come up with a winning formula in its Ioniq 5 N.

Mega acceleration is matched by outstanding dynamics but not at the expense of ride comfort. Tricky tech designed to mimic the behaviour of a conventional dual-clutch performance car is also a potential breakthrough.

Another dead heat for a score of 8.6 in the lower part of the list, with the first light commercial vehicle making an appearance in the shape of Ford’s pure-electric E-Transit Custom van.

Contributing Journalist Byron Mathioudakis appreciated this racy-looking load-lugger’s driving dynamics, efficient packaging and state-of-the-art engineering. He even poses the question, is this the Tesla of electric vans?

Yes, I know we said Top 10, but why let a numerical technicality get in the way of a neat headline, and with four cars scoring 8.6/10 the flagship grade of this hard-working ute has to be included.

Contributing Journalist Emily Agar viewed the 4WD ute through the FamilyGuide lens, liking its looks but loving its willing twin-turbo diesel engine, leading ownership package and on-road manners.