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I feel like 2024 was the eye of the storm. It’s the year, which sits between a big surge of electrification, yet before our market will be hit with a big shake-up with at least 12 new manufacturers entering the fray in 2025.
There were still some significant launches and important vehicles that have arrived, alongside a continued push toward more electric or at least electrified options.
The list this year was also particularly hard to narrow down, because the bar to meet was high, and there were a few notable vehicles that could easily have made the cut.
I missed some important new entrants like the BYD Shark 6 and am yet to drive fascinating arrivals like the MG Cyberster, Volvo EX30, Lexus GX, new-generation Mustang, or anything from Smart.
Last year, my entire list was electric, yet this year proved combustion cars still have a lot to give when it comes to impressing you from behind the wheel.
Compiling this list even surprised me in some areas, having to really sit down and think about the most notable vehicles from my point of view in 2024. Let’s dig in.
This one was a big surprise. Toward the end of the year, the Renault Megane E-Tech became my long-term test car, having missed it at its launch.
Even when driving home this car immediately stood out to me. It’s more than a subtle Euro design with lots of cool design bits, and despite the marketing, it’s not really an SUV or even a crossover. It’s a genuine hatchback.
Low to the ground, light, reactive, and unlike many EVs it has a composed ride with well-managed weight distribution. What an unusual joy this car turned out to be.
It’s more than that though, the Megane E-Tech feels like a re-boot of the whole Renault brand. Having driven it back to back with the Arkana, what I consider to be the last of the ‘old’ Renaults, the E-Tech feels as though the French brand has taken a long hard look at itself and started from scratch.
Is it too little, too late for it in Australia, with its rival Citroen recently leaving under the immense pressure of new entrants and more competitive rivals? You’ll have to tune in to my long term review chapters to find out.
The Ineos Grenadier is just undeniably cool — plain and simple. It is a bastion of old-school off-roading in a time of electrification and new technologies.
Make no mistake though, it’s ‘old-school’ in every sense of the phrase, from its big engines to its lack of electrically-assisted steering, but I love that something so intentional and so purpose built can still exist.
It’s rugged, customisable, looks the business, and is enormously fun to take on the rough stuff with its genuinely capable hardware. On top of all that, the Quartermaster is even a capable ute, with a useful tray and competitive hauling specs, too.
Protest voters (those who don’t like EVs, hybrids, or invasive active safety technology) will love it, although you should know we had to dig through ADR legislation to figure out how the brand was even still allowed to sell a car without auto emergency braking this late in 2024 (turns out it’s in a one-year grace period, expect active safety tech to be added imminently).
The Grenadier perhaps proves you don’t have to over-think the solution, and that sometimes it’s okay for a car to not be all things to all people all the time, something so easily forgotten in an era where popular dual-cab utes have replaced Fords and Holdens as the default choice as the family car.
Read the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster review here
What is going on at Hyundai at the moment? While its sister brand, Kia, has deployed a sharp, unified design direction across its whole range of combustion cars and EVs, Hyundai is all over the shop, taking inspiration from across the automotive design world, with some notable hits and misses, daring to play with polarising looks and feels for some of its most important vehicles.
The Santa Fe throws convention to the wind, and forgoes its traditional SUV shape in this new-generation version for something that looks more like it belongs in Land Rover’s catalogue.
It doesn’t just catch the eye with its crazy, boxy design, but it also feels the part inside with a plush interior, high-end features, and clever use of materials to make all the variants own their spot in the range.
The hybrid system is slick and fuel efficient, with the caveat that it’s maybe not as powerful or capable as this big SUV’s design suggests.
Still, it strikes me as a stand-out this year, not only for its design, but for really trying something different and nailing the brief for the intended audience.
Read the Hyundai Santa Fe review here
How dare Cupra surprise me with yet another hit of a car to add to its portfolio? You see, the brand’s previous stand-outs, the Formentor SUV and Born hatch naturally fit into the brand’s vague performance-oriented semi-premium positioning, but the Terramar?
The mid-size SUV had its work cut out for it separating itself from the Tiguan. The Tiguan is sporty enough, and yet somehow Cupra has done it again, producing a slick, refined, and purposeful mid-size SUV with a bit of unexpected attitude, even emulating Porsche a little in its design.
If you’re not convinced by Cupra, but you’re a family with a bit of an enthusiast edge, the Terramar might be the perfect time to give the brand a look. With its Golf GTI-sourced engine, mean suspension, steering and tyres, it’s a hoot and will continue to offer buyers options post-launch with a plug-in hybrid on the way.
Read the Cupra Terramar review here
BYD is off to a crazy start in Australia going from zero to hero in our market with its attractively-priced range of electric and now plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The Atto 3 was an instant hit because it was a much more affordable alternative to the Model Y, the Dolphin because it was one of the most affordable electric cars in Australia.
Could the brand really have a trifecta on its hands with the Seal, which goes directly into battle against the groundbreaking Model 3?
Turns out, it doesn’t do a bad job at all. The Seal looks very sharp, drives surprisingly well, and does it all at a keen price. It even gets things right that Tesla doesn’t. It’s more comfortable inside, has a more compliant ride as well as an actual instrument cluster and some physical switchgear.
I drove a mid-spec Premium, and I doubt the Performance model could pull punches in quite the same way. Something tells me it doesn’t have the sheer speed of the Tesla or the handling of the Polestar 2. Still, the mid-spec one I drove was a solid across-the-board and is doing its part to keep sedans alive and to make electric vehicles more attractive.
As usual I like to throw in a few honourable mentions, which were very close to making the cut and deserve a little reflection of their own.
The thing about this list is I like to include cars that had the power to really surprise me over the course of the year, and this little SUV turns the Lexus formula on its head.
When the brand announced its new entry level model to replace the drab Corolla-based CT200h was going to be a plush take on the Yaris Cross, I had my doubts.
The Yaris Cross is a charming little car in its own right, but it’s a bit light and rattly. Hardly an inspiring basis for an ostensibly luxury car.
Yet, the LBX is a comprehensively re-worked vehicle and not a plush take you might have come to expect from the Japanese band, instead it is imbued with a surprisingly fun attitude, with sharp steering, an athletic posture, and cheeky feedback.
If only it had something other than an ordinary hybrid powertrain to help push it along. Buy the base 2WD, it’s lighter, more fun to drive, and by far the best value.
Read the Lexus LBX review here
In today’s era of outrageous headline performance figures, wacky polarising designs and a seemingly constant need for oneupmanship in the EV space, there’s something refreshing about a car as understated as the Skoda Superb.
Now needing to do the heavy lifting flagship sedan and wagon duties for Skoda and Volkswagen with the departure of the Passat, the next-generation Superb set to arrive in 2025 is elegant, deeply practical, and razor-sharp to drive (and I’ve only driven the diesel!).
A sad reality is a car as good as this is unlikely to win more fans from SUV land, and will instead appeal to an increasingly small base of weirdos like me, but we’re all better for the fact that it exists and will continue to be imported into Australia for another generation.
It will be offered in a single high-spec 2.0-litre petrol turbo AWD variant which won't be cheap, but if you love to drive and want to continue to win the respect of similarly-minded family buyers, it will be one of the few options left to you in 2025.
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