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.

Chinese brand Haval gets spicy!
By Andrew Chesterton · 24 Nov 2022
The Haval Jolion S is days away from touching down in Australia, with the warmed-over SUV to deliver more grunt, tougher looks and sportier suspension as the Chinese brand looks to up its dynamic credibility.
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Nissan targets number two SUV spot
By Andrew Chesterton · 24 Nov 2022
Nissan says its new X-Trail SUV is good enough to snatch second-place in the mid-size SUV from the Mazda CX-5, which would leave it trailing only the seemingly unstoppable Toyota RAV4 in Australia.
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Nissan's new model wait times exposed
By Andrew Chesterton · 22 Nov 2022
Nissan says Australia's “new normal” – customers ordering then waiting for their new vehicle, rather than picking one off the showroom floor and driving away – will continue amidst the brand's much-hyped SUV rollout, with Nissan revealing the order bank and wait times for the Qashqai, Pathfinder and X-Trail.
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Meet Ram's Ranger and HiLux hunter!
By Andrew Chesterton · 16 Nov 2022
Ram's new mid-size ute offering has been spied testing for the first time, with the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger-sized pick-up inching ever closer to its official reveal.
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Is this the best electric SUV yet?
By Andrew Chesterton · 16 Nov 2022
The incoming Porsche Macan EV is set to deliver epic range and performance, with reports out of the USA pointing to the all-electric SUV pumping out 450kW in its fastest guise.
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Why 2023 could be Tesla's biggest year yet!
By Andrew Chesterton · 11 Nov 2022
Next year is shaping as the biggest in Tesla's history, with a flurry of new launches joining updates to the Model 3 and Model Y to potentially lift Elon Musk's EV company to even greater heights.
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Reborn Toyota MR2 to fire out a massive 370kW
By Andrew Chesterton · 10 Nov 2022
Toyota is about to prove its GR program has an exciting electric future, with reports the reborn MR2 EV will produce in excess of 370kW.
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Toyota's secret supercar!
By Andrew Chesterton · 09 Nov 2022
Toyota is poised to unveil a new mid-engine performance king, with the model - co-developed with Suzuki - designed to deliver lightweight thrills in the style of a Lotus.
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LandCruiser Prado launch and engines revealed
By Andrew Chesterton · 08 Nov 2022
The LandCruiser Prado's diesel engine will survive when Toyota at last updates its iconic SUV, with the help of diesel-hybrid technology to breath new life into a 2.8-litre turbodiesel, according to new reports.
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Will the new HiLux be too little, too late?
By Andrew Chesterton · 04 Nov 2022
Let's have a little ute history lesson, shall we? And stay with me, because we're going waaaaay back to 2015, which is when the current-generation Toyota HilLux first launched in Australia.
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