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.

How many Chinese cars were sold in Oz?
By Andrew Chesterton · 06 Jan 2023
China is emerging as an increasingly powerful new-car force in Australia, with more than 120,000 Chinese-made vehicles sold here last year.It's a meteoric rise for the relatively new vehicle manufacturing hub, with just 76,262 vehicles sold in 2021.
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Australian new-car market booms
By Andrew Chesterton · 05 Jan 2023
Australians purchased more new cars in 2022 than they did in 2021, despite lingering covid impacts, soaring interest rates and global financial warnings.None of that dampened our enthusiasm for new vehicles, though, with 1,081,429 vehicles sold across the
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Kia is now bigger than Hyundai!
By Andrew Chesterton · 05 Jan 2023
Australia has a new favourite Korean car brand, with booming Kia outselling Hyundai in 2022 to finish an impressive third on Australia's new-car sales chart - despite not having a single model inside the country's 10 most popular vehicles list.Some 78,330
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HiLux goes hard!
By Andrew Chesterton · 05 Jan 2023
The Toyota HiLux remains Australia's favourite ute (and vehicle, for that matter) sweeping aside newer rivals like the Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max in the dual-cab sales race.The 2022 sales results were genuinely wild for Toyota, which - in a year marked b
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Our 2023 new-car crystal ball
By Andrew Chesterton · 30 Dec 2022
While 2022 was a year of great unknowns — what with Covid, semi-conductors, stock shortages, factory shutdowns and shipping woes all combining to wreak havoc on deliveries — we have our fingers firmly crossed that 2023 will bring some sort of stability back to Australia’s new-car marketplace.
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Mazda's rotary launch date confirmed!
By Andrew Chesterton · 29 Dec 2022
Mazda will launch the latest take on its most famous engine technology by March 31 next year, with the rotary revival finally ready to get underway.
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Rust In Pieces: Cars we farewelled in 2022
By Andrew Chesterton · 27 Dec 2022
It has been among the weirder new-car years on record in Australia, with most models hard to come by — with lengthy ordering queues and shipping delays — and their prices seemingly only heading in one direction. And it all looks like it will continue into the new year, too.
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Can the HiLux really take on the Raptor?
By Andrew Chesterton · 17 Dec 2022
A toughened-up HiLux that appears to be the brand's flagship GR Sport has been spotted testing in disguise in Thailand, setting the countdown clock for the model's arrival in Australia, where it will meet the might of the Ford Ranger Raptor in the battle
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Subaru Forester Turbo firms for 2023
By Andrew Chesterton · 16 Dec 2022
The once “unlikely” Subaru Forester Turbo appears to now be firming for an Australian launch next year, as the brand prepares an updated Forester and a slew of special editions to celebrate its 50th birthday in Australia.
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The Mazda MX-5 is going electric!
By Andrew Chesterton · 15 Dec 2022
The Mazda MX-5 will live on in the EV era, with the brand's global CEO vows to electrify every model in its lineup by 2030.
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