Articles by Andrew Chesterton

Andrew Chesterton

Contributing Journalist

CarsGuide contributing journalist Andrew Chesterton is an award-winning Australian automotive reporter with more than 20 years of experience across newspapers, magazines, digital publishing and automotive corporate communications.

Andrew began his journalism career at Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, reporting across business, courts, crime, property and state politics before moving into automotive journalism.

He joined Top Gear Australia as its online editor in 2008, later being appointed editor of Top Gear New Zealand. He subsequently worked as an assistant editor during the Australian launch of the Daily Mail Australia, and as communications manager at FCA Australia, now Stellantis.

His experience on both sides of the media industry gives him an unrivalled understanding of the automotive industry, and the relationship between car manufacturers, the media, and Australian consumers.

Andrew’s work has appeared across leading automotive, news, business, luxury, travel and lifestyle publications, including CarsGuide, EV Central, DMARGE, The Sydney Morning Herald, Marie Claire, Top Gear, GQ Australia, The Australian, WISH Magazine, Boss Hunting, The West Australian, The Nightly, Women’s Day Australia, Carsales, NRMA, Men’s Health, CEO Magazine, Australian Financial Review and more.

Andrew specialises in industry news, vehicle reviews, policy, performance and luxury cars, electric vehicles, automotive technology, EVs hybrid and plug-in hybrids, and the broader Australian new-car marketplace.

In 2025, Andrew was named Newspress Australia News Journalist of the Year and was a finalist for the overall Journalist of the Year award.

Earlier honours include Website of the Year wins at the Australian Magazine Awards and ACP Awards, the ACP Rising Star Award and recognition in the Bauer Media and News Ltd journalism awards.

Expertise

Electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles
Performance, luxury and supercars
New-car reviews and road testing
Australian automotive industry and new-car sales
Chinese automotive brands and emerging manufacturers
Utes, SUVs and family vehicles
Automotive technology
Policy

Awards

2025 Newspress Australia News Journalist of the Year

Featured Publications

Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

A 700Nm GR Fortuner would be a beast

By Andrew Chesterton · 04 May 2021

You might be excited by the prospect of the incoming Toyota GR HiLux - and you've got every reason to be - but what about its SUV sibling, the Fortuner?With news that no model has been excluded from the Toyota's GR roll-out, from the Yaris and Corolla and

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Ford Puma 2021 review: ST-Line long-term

By Andrew Chesterton · 03 May 2021

The Ford Puma might not be the biggest light SUV, nor the cheapest, but it combines its too-cute looks with a smile-inducing drive experience not often found in this segment. This is a truly urban SUV, so we asked the truly urban Chesto to put it through its paces to see if the good outweighs the bad.

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Land Cruiser 70 Series EV coming soon?

By Andrew Chesterton · 02 May 2021

Toyota's all-electric LandCruiser 70 Series could find its way into dealers, with the brand's executives flagging the consumer potential of the battery-powered off-roader.

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Toyota GR HiLux will be a monster

By Andrew Chesterton · 29 Apr 2021

The incoming Toyota GR HiLux could be the world's most powerful diesel ute, with the LandCruiser's V6 diesel generating enough torque to outshine everything from the Ford Ranger Raptor to the Nissan Navara Warrior and everything in-between.

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Nissan X-Trail to take on Toyota RAV4 Hybrid

By Andrew Chesterton · 28 Apr 2021

Nissan stands on the cusp of an electrified revolution in Australia, with the brand's clever e-Power technology getting ready to launch.And its technology that the brand says is "much better" than parallel hybrid technology, the latter of which has fuell

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Hyundai Palisade N on the cards

By Andrew Chesterton · 28 Apr 2021

It might have started as an April Fool's joke, but Hyundai is no longer laughing, suggesting the gigantic Palisade N could emerge as a battery-electric or fuel-cell performance SUV.Though far from confirming the big bopper, and insisting the new Kona N wi

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Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series GR Sport!

By Andrew Chesterton · 28 Apr 2021

The Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series story is only just beginning, with fresh news out of Japan reporting that a GR Sport model will act as a flagship model that's both bigger and more advanced than the rest of the LC300.The reports also point to an early-A

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Diesel hybrid to save HiLux and LandCruiser?

By Andrew Chesterton · 26 Apr 2021

Diesel-hybrid technology is still very much on the table at Toyota, as the brand fights to reconcile is green-focused future with the popularity of its diesel engines.It means some of the brand's most popular nameplates - including the Toyota HiLux and La

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Toyota LC 300 versus Nissan Patrol NISMO

By Andrew Chesterton · 25 Apr 2021

In terms of heavyweight bouts, they don't get much heavier than this, with Nissan this week confirming it is "actively pursuing" the new Patrol NISMO, which would arrive to do battle with the hugely anticipated Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.

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EVERY leaked Land Cruiser 300 Series image

By Andrew Chesterton · 23 Apr 2021

Toyota just can't seem to keep a cover on the new LandCruiser 300 Series, with the V6 diesel-powered beasties snapped again, and again, and again, in the past 24 hours as the countdown to its launch continues.To make you lives a little easier, we've colla

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