Chasing Cars’ Hits and Misses 2024: what soared and what tanked in the year that was?

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This year saw another massive wave of change in an already volatile car industry.

New competitors like Zeekr entered the market, others like Citroen threw their hands up and left after years of slow sales. We suspect they won’t be the last, either, as more and more brands compete for a diminishing slice of the pie.

We’re proud to have covered the vast majority of the new cars on sale in our usual comprehensive fashion. Some vehicles excelled while others proved to be thoroughly disappointing.

Here, Chasing Cars’ staff and our contributors take a look back at the year that was and pick our biggest winner and the one that let us down the most.

Curt Dupriez – Deputy Editor

HIT – Lexus GX 550

 It probably ought to be the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, easily the quickest accelerating car I’ve ever driven and one demanding just a single circa-15-minute DC fast charge to get it from Sydney to Melbourne.     

But no: my favourite car this year was the Lexus GX 550 Overtrail. It just pushed all the right personal buttons in all the right places for me. Purely subjectively. So what if its touring range isn’t intergalactic: I’ve got no plans to cross the Nullarbor any time soon.  

MISS – Poorly Tuned Safety Systems

Any new car that came to the market demanding the driver disable any electronic system intent on disrupting occupant sanity through unnecessary warning and monitoring systems, usually via multi-step processes and submenu digging. And, boy, there were some culprits.

Let’s start with virtually any Hyundai– or Kia-branded model release. Similar, or possibly identical, technical infrastructure yields the same incessant annoyances with virtually every model nameplate. Aussie market application is often blamed on roll-out due to European market legislation. We’re not in Europe. They’re not ADR mandated. Get rid of them.

At least the Korean systems function mostly as intended much of the time. Which is not the case for many Chinese-made, usually Chinese-branded releases, which feature so-called ‘safety’ and ‘convenience’ systems so poorly calibrated that they make vehicles downright dangerous and undriveable. And the worse they get the more we’ll double-down with our criticisms. 

Dan Gardner – Senior Contributor

Hit – Jaguar’s new corporate identity

No, I’ve not been on the eggnog. Jaguar’s staggering rebrand might look weird, it might alienate a chunk of it’s badly needed audience and it might appear to be the identity of a company that sells anything but cars, but it succeeds in an area that many rebrands fail – real change.

You’re talking about it, people who couldn’t give a fraction of a damn about cars are talking about it and I’m writing about it … again. Love or hate the new look, it’s generated unprecedented dialogue about a marque right when it needs needs it most.

It’s okay if you don’t like it, just don’t call it woke and definitely don’t try to turn a car badge into a culture war – if you think it’s simply bad design, dislike it and move on. You’re probably not the target audience the new Jaguar has in its sights anyway.

Miss – Subaru Forester STI Sport

There’s only one way to more effectively offend a diehard Subaru fan than launching a model of the WRX that isn’t available as a tuned-up halo STI version, and that’s by introducing a ‘special’ edition of the Forester that has absolutely no performance enhancements other than firmer dampers and slap the iconic pink badge on its boot.

At best, the Forester STI Sport dilutes a much-loved and coveted performance brand and at worst it alienates a core enthusiast cohort that’s vital to Subaru. Petrolheads can be as fickle as they are loyal and they won’t hang around long if they don’t get what they want.

Evan Spence – Logistics Manager

HIT – Toyota Prado 250 Series 

If a 4×4 could embody the term point-and-shoot, it would be the new Prado. It just does everything you could ask of it well and without fuss. It’s very capable off-road, very comfortable on-road… it just works. Lock the centre diff, and it happens immediately. Put it in low-range, and it shifts right away. 

This standard of functionality applies across the board – there aren’t many bad things I can say about the 2024 Prado, other than I don’t own one. Might be time to move my FJ Cruiser on, ‘eh. 

Miss – Suzuki Jimny XL 

This one hurts, because I love Suzuki 4x4s – especially long-wheel base Zooks. I’ve owned many, and still have an old Sierra I’m spinning spanners on. So please don’t send me hatemail for saying the Jimny XL was a bit of a let down. 

And why? Well, the way the seats don’t fold flat is a missed opportunity for camping and off-road enthusiasts. Also not providing more power in the girthy (for a Suzuki) XL was a mistake in my eyes. 

Suzuki could have made this a really special vehicle. I’ll really need to take one on a road trip to see if my mind changes, however in my opinion, I’d stick with the 3-door Jimny – which is an absolute ripper of a four-wheel drive. 

Iain Curry – Senior Contributor

HIT – Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

No other car launched this year has moved a game on so substantially. Electric cars are (rightly) criticised for offering a bland, homogenised, heavy and non-emotional drive experience, no matter how fast they can go in a straight line.

The Ioniq 5 N changes all that. It’s the first EV to put driver involvement at its core and this mad hatch oozes character. It owns its fake engine noises and false gear shifts, and you won’t care when exploiting the mad performance from its 448kW/740Nm twin motor setup. A riot on track, and surprisingly comfy on road. If only it didn’t cost $111,000.

MISS – Jaguar’s ad campaign

This one’s a TBC. The Brit brand’s “Copy Nothing” teaser advert and reveal of its giant, ultra-expensive concept EV is either the worst or the best campaign in history. If it wanted to get the world’s attention, job done. If it wants to sell cars – you know, to ensure Jaguar’s survival – the jury’s out.

Large, expensive electric cars simply aren’t selling. Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and more have had to quietly slash prices globally to try and shift them. I fear for Jaguar’s future. 

They had to do something radical (trying to compete with the Germans hasn’t worked in decades), but there’s a heritage brand and jobs on the line here. I hope they prove me wrong. 

Jez Spinks – Editor and Head

HIT – Dacia Sandero

Australia is desperately short of options for good budget-priced vehicles from Europe, but the answer may well come from Dacia – or at least the vehicles that will be rebadged as Renaults for this market in 2025.

We don’t yet know which Dacias will come here, and local importer Ateco may prioritise SUVs, but my drive of the Sandero hatchback in the UK this year bodes well.

The Sandero is ridiculously cheap in England – priced from the equivalent of approximately $28,000 – yet the small car brings accomplished engineering with its satisfying on-road behaviour and willing 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo and likeable six-speed manual gearbox (it’s also available with a CVT auto). 

Yes, the interior materials match up to the price point but the cabin offers comfortable seats and generous space front and rear.

MISS: BYD Seal Performance 

After the surprisingly likeable Atto 3 SUV, I was hoping BYD’s mid-sized sedan would prove to be a worthy rival for the Tesla Model 3. In flagship guise, the Seal Performance certainly has some incredible numbers on paper: 390kW, 670Nm, 0-100km/h in a Taycan S-whipping 3.8 seconds, and all for less than $70,000.

But on the road, the Seal Performance proves to be a car you’d rather not be so quick.

The steering is stodgy, the brake pedal is tricky to modulate, throttle response isn’t completely linear, the ride is restless, a lack of chassis composure in corners depletes driver confidence, and the lane-keep assist can be overly aggressive to the point of trying to wrench the steering wheel out of your hands.

The Seal’s flaws are further emphasised by the excellence found elsewhere in the segment – in addition to the Model 3, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Polestar 2 are also fine electric four-doors.

Olek Novak – Journalist

HIT – Toyota Camry

It would be so easy to pick one of the more exciting cars I’ve driven this year, like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, or what is arguably the most impressive EV I have ever driven, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, but I’ve decided to go with one of the most ‘ordinary’ cars I could possibly drive: the new Toyota Camry. 

First impressions count a lot in this job and here was a vehicle where everything worked the minute I hopped in. All the physical buttons, controls and switchgear fell where you wanted, the build and refinement wasn’t far off a Lexus, and it was a confident, mature, relaxing and gimmick-free vehicle to steer. 

The fact Toyota has simply taken a ‘continuous improvement’ strategy with the Camry as opposed to reinventing the wheel has resulted in what is just about all the car anyone could ever need, with exceptional fuel efficiency. 

Granted, I was in the top-spec SL and it’s possible my reaction may not have been as positive in the more ‘Uber-spec’ lower trim grades, but in a sea of SUVs, the fact the unpretentious and quietly confident Camry sedan still exists as an alternative to all the ‘look at me’ whizzbangery offered by so many other brands is quite refreshing. 

The dream spec for me however? Get ready for the obligatory auto journalist cliche: an SL wagon version!

MISS – Alfa Romeo Milano/Junior

I considered a few options for this one. The Kia Tasman launch? Well, I actually don’t hate the design, and let’s wait until we actually drive it. The Jaguar rebrand? Sure, I share a degree of nerves around it, but let’s see what the actual production cars look like first. 

That left me with my most definite miss of 2024 – the Alfa Romeo Milano, sorry – I mean Junior! Granted, I haven’t driven it, but what a spectacularly entertaining debacle this was. 

Proudly and loudly promoted for months ahead of its reveal, the Milano small SUV was set to be Alfa Romeo’s first EV before a public stoush with Italy’s government around the legalities of naming the vehicle after an Italian city when it is in fact made in Poland. 

And so, almost on queue in the week of the vehicle’s unveiling, Alfa issued a comically passive-aggressive statement renaming the vehicle as the ‘Junior’. While that name does have some ties to Alfa’s of old, I’ve spoken to at least one more ‘senior’ Alfisti who reckons they’d cross it off their consideration list for having that name alone. I hope it drives well!

Tom Baker – Founder

Hit of the year – the return of great new car deals

For me, 2024 was a subdued year in terms of impressive new cars that launched to Australians – although I thought there were a few notable mentions: the exceptionally broad new BMW 5 Series range, the Lexus GX, the Polestar 3 and the substantially upgraded Tesla Model 3 were among the best vehicles I tested during the year.

While it was a quiet year in terms of new metal, it was pleasing (but not hugely surprising) to see the return of sharp new car deals that finally turned the tables of the new car market back in favour of Australian buyers.  

After a number of years of backlogs, caused by COVID and supply shortages – and associated greedy behaviour by sellers – the pendulum swung back to buyers in 2024, hard.  But it wasn’t all rosy, with sustained moderately high interest rates keeping financing expensive and limiting the pool of new car buyers.

Miss of the year – fence-sitting on the EV charging network

Australia pumped EV sales in 2024 via the federal government’s waiver of fringe benefits tax on salary-sacrificed leases of electric and plug-in hybrid cars, keeping demand afloat despite jitters elsewhere, and successfully tempting carmakers into offering greater choice of sub-$100K EVs – all positives.  

However, Australians quickly cottoned on to the value of near-zero real interest EV loans, and the waiver is costing the taxpayer about $250 million per year in relinquished tax revenue.

All in all, this was a serious commitment to incentivising EV uptake, but enthusiasm for solidifying Australia’s EV charging network was lacking.  Given the question of “where will I charge this thing?,” holds back some EV buyers (many flat dwellers included), a discussion about whether a greater proportion of incentive spending ought to be in infrastructure, deserved more attention.  

And, given the taxpayer often chips in to charging operators’ costs, should the government more fiercely enforce reliability standards, and make charger pricing easier to compare?  So far, we’ve heard mainly crickets on the hard stuff.

Tom Place – Production Specialist

HIT – Lexus GX 550

Around the same time the new Toyota Prado rolled onto driveways around the country, its Lexus GX twin rolled onto mine and I quickly became smitten.

While Toyota slammed the defibrillator on its 2.8L turbo-diesel to keep it going for another decade or so, Lexus has nestled the sweetest of twin-turbo V6 engines between the arches of what is a beautifully smooth yet still body-on-frame chassis.

The starting price ain’t cheap at $116,000 but it’s loaded to the gills with standard features and when the Prado Kakadu now asks for six-figures, it starts to make a lot of sense. What’s more, that rugged Overtrail spec Curt adores only adds another $6500 to the driveaway price….

MISS – Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium long termer

So often in this job, half the battle is trying to figure out who exactly a car is for. Don’t bother asking car makers as they will just say ‘everyone’. For three months, I tried to figure out who would buy my long term Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium and, later, I asked myself why.

The Mach-E Premium isn’t here because it’s a bad car, it’s here because it could’ve been a good one. The stupid name, the fidgety ride, the panoramic sunroof with no closeable shade and worst of all, the astonishingly uncompetitive circa-$90K driveaway price – and that was after two price cuts, mind you.

But it was fun to drive, looked kinda cool and was a surprisingly delightful commuter thanks to its soft seats, lovely stereo and well-tuned adaptive cruise system. 

In the end I delivered my final verdict: ‘don’t buy it’; and I felt like I was putting down the family dog, I didn’t want to do it, but it was the right thing to do. 

Zak Adkins – Journalist

HIT – Porsche 911 GT3 RS

I’ve driven so many cars this year, but this race track-ready Porsche is one I remember most of all. It’s a hard car to put into words, largely because it’s such an emotional experience. If there were ever to be a car that acted as an extension to your body, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS does it, and does it very, very well. 

The visceral sound of the 4.0-litre flat-six, the gorgeous steering, the seating position, the way the car wraps around you, the throttle response… I could go on and on. 

Not only was driving this Porsche my best day at work at Chasing Cars to date, but also what I’d like to call a career benchmark: you just don’t get an experience like that in many other cars in the Australian new car market. 

MISS – GWM Cannon Alpha Hybrid

Being the first hybrid ute to sell on Australian shores, the GWM Cannon Alpha was a ute I was really looking forward to. Marketed as a bigger, better and more premium offering, I found the Alpha in its hybrid trim to instead have poor unladen ride quality, pretty average active safety assistance and a hybrid powertrain needing more bite. 

And although GWM is actively rectifying some issues with this larger Alpha ute, this was for me the one car that could have been so much better in 2024.