Articles by Byron Mathioudakis

History’s most influential van ever turns 60. With a global impact that includes Australia, the Ford Transit changed the way vans were designed, engineered and marketed from the very moment it hit the streets – initially in the UK and Europe – in October, 1965. Today the Transit is to Europeans what the Holden and Ford utes meant to Australians and what the F-Series pick-up is to Americans.

With the first quarter of this century already over, we take a look back at the biggest mistakes made by car makers in Australia over the past 25 years.

This year is not even over and yet one of 2026’s most-improved SUVs is already looming in sight for Australia. Due by the middle of next year, the GWM Haval Jolion will undergo a significant transformation to improve and update a number of shortfalls to bring it up to class standards against the best-selling Hyundai Kona, MG S5 and Chery Tiggo 4.

Diesel engines are far from over, with a big new 3.0-litre unit is destined for one of Australia’s emerging range of utes and SUVs. To make its global debut in Australia sometime in the middle of next year, this internal combustion engine with no electrification assistance will arrive in an in-line four-cylinder turbo-diesel configuration that promises to be one of the most efficient of its type available anywhere in the world.

With the vast majority of utes being diesels, are Australians breathing in more noxious fumes now than 15 years ago? After all, back in 2010, most utes were either of the smaller one-tonne variety or lighter car-based locally-made Holden and Ford Falcon-based models with six-cylinder/V8 petrol options. To find out if Australians breathed easier 15 years ago, we’re comparing the top-three sellers of 2010 with their modern equivalents.

Volkswagen will launch an all-new version of the Amarok that is completely unrelated to any previous ute wearing the famous badge. Due in 2027, it is expected to finally replace the ageing, 2H-series Amarok original launched in 2010, still in production in Argentina for the South American market and facelifted in 2024. But the really big news is that this will be a variation of the recently-released LDV (or Maxus) Terron 9 that’s also sold in Australia as the MG U9, courtesy of Chinese automotive conglomerate SAIC.

One of Europe’s cheapest small cars will live on in Australia – for now. While the Skoda Scala’s future hangs in the balance due to shifting buyer preferences, plunging sales and a new-model onslaught that includes value EVs like the coming Epiq, its Fabia kid brother is treading just enough water to justify continuing importation.

Australia is one of the most fiercely-contested sales arenas in the world today, with more than 60 brands and counting fighting for a modest 1.2-million-unit market annually.Tough doesn’t even start to explain the situation.Now, with the recent Climate Change Authority’s recommendation that electric vehicle (EV) sales jump from today’s 10 per cent market penetration to at least 50 per cent by 2035 to achieve emissions targets, it is vital that Australian buyers willingly take the leap into full electrification.To that end, here are five EVs not-yet available locally that could lure consumers in. Let’s go.Built at the old Fiesta supermini factory in Germany, the inexplicably-named Explorer EV (no relation at all to the larger, non-electric American Toyota Kluger-sized SUV with exactly the same badge – are there no other names, Ford?) is not what it seems.Under the boxy exterior is a Volkswagen ID.4 mid-sized EV SUV. This is a strong basis for any family-friendly electric car, offering a pleasing depth of quality engineering. Ford’s contribution has been in its unique styling inside and out, as well as on-brand dynamic tuning.Launched last year, initial sales in Europe tanked, but demand has really started to pick up lately, as consumers respond to the Explorer’s chunky styling, involving handling and sophisticated interior. With up to 600km of WLTP range available, efficiency is also impressive.This Euro Explorer is exactly the sort of EV Ford Australia needs: handsome, athletic, capable and clean.Especially as the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) will increasingly penalise carbon-heavy polluters like diesel-powered utes and SUVs – which is what Ranger and Everest are respectively, making up about 90 per cent of total local Ford sales.But there are no plans for Explorer EV to be imported. It seems like a no-brainer. What a shame.The retro-chic Renault 5 E-Tech city car is a sales and critical success, and deservedly so, offering an alluring blend of style, affordability and technology. Europeans are going gaga over this French supermini, and all indications suggest we soon will be, too. Fingers crossed.But its big brother, the Renault 4 E-Tech, might be an even-better fit for Australia, given it is a higher-riding SUV/crossover, with proper practicality lurking underneath that utilitarian design. With only hints of the original, ground-breaking R4 of 1961 – widely considered to be history’s first volume hatchback – the 2025 reimagining treads a fine line between post-modern-cool and ultra-contemporary-funk.Fun fact: unlike the original Renault 5 supermini of the 1970s, Australians could actually buy the first R4, from 1963 to 1967, and it was even manufactured in Melbourne.Chinese giant Geely has the resources and might to stamp its authority in the bottom end of the EV market in Australia with this – the Geome Xingyuan.And an anticipated sub-$30,000 entry price wouldn’t be the light urban crossover’s only strength.Aimed at the BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora and Hyundai Inster, the Geome has gone gangbusters back in China, with buyers liking and subscribing its cutesy organic styling, surprisingly spacious cabin and ease of operation – aided by plenty of pep, perky handling, decent range and a generous wad of safety tech. What’s not to like from an EV that, in China, kicks off from well-below $20K? At $25K the Geome would rule.With a name like that, this European EV supermini sounds like it should be Chinese, but the Grande Panda is very much an elegant – and thoughtful ­– slice of Italian design.Based on Stellantis’ Smart Car Platform that supports internal combustion engines as well as battery electric tech, accessibility was high on the Grande Panda’s engineering brief, meaning that, were it to join its glamorous 500e supermini sister in Australia, it should be priced very competitively. Like history’s best Fiats have always been.This is the sort of fun and fiery yet ultra-functional city car that the company is famous for – and the retro styling that harks back to the beloved, Giugiaro-penned 1980 Panda original makes no bones about that. Interesting detailing, great proportions and an inviting interior presentation are further drawcards, proving that Italy still knows how to make cracking small cars. And did we mention the Grande Panda was designed to be attractively priced?OK. This is little more than the high-flying Renault 5 E-Tech wearing a 2000s-era Mk3 Micra-esque face with adorable semi-circular LEDs to set it apart.But, in an era of capable if unexciting SUVs, ageing utes and even-older 4WDs, Nissan deserves to offer something fresh and youthful.And, anyway, until the late 2010s and Tesla Model 3, the brand’s Leaf small car was the most successful EV in history. Whether lightning strikes twice with the vital third iteration from next year remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the Micra EV proves that there is real heart as well as a sense of fun at Nissan. Even if it is so clearly little more than a badge-engineered R5. But there could be worse cars to be based upon.

Prompted by this week’s announcement of an MG ute, here are some of today’s most egregious examples of new cars or latest models that might have their founders confounded, dazed or confused. And before firing off missives our way, we are not judging any of the listed vehicles’ merits; indeed, we admire their makers’ gumption and self-belief. Good for them!

The Volkswagen Group’s long-awaited response to cheap electric vehicles (EVs) from China is shaping up to be one of next year’s most important global debutantes.