Articles by Chris Thompson

Chris Thompson

Senior Journalist

CarsGuide’s Senior Journalist Chris Thompson has never had a ‘real job’ outside being a motoring journalist, which makes him the perfect candidate to inform you about everything happening in the world of new cars.

Even as a teenager, while studying journalism at university and stacking shelves at a Brisbane bottle shop, he became a contributor to Unique Cars Magazine in 2014. There he specialised in covering classic car events and writing stories of his own and others’ car ownership.

Shortly after packing up his 1992 VW Golf GTI and moving to Melbourne, he worked stints as Deputy Editor at industry titles Australasian Bus and Coach Magazine, and Farms & Farm Machinery Magazine under then Bauer Media’s umbrella, but being a full-time motoring journalist remained his goal.

After a few months in Melbourne, he became the first digital journalist at performance car title MOTOR Magazine in 2017. He soon got to grips with the new car industry, becoming probably the youngest full-time journalist and road-tester in Australia at the time, at just 22 years old.

A few years at MOTOR saw him become a seasoned reviewer with a particular skill for on-road assessment, as well as becoming adept at video presenting and finding and writing left-of-field motoring stories, sometimes at a rate of several a day.

He traded track days and supercharged V8s for family SUVs and fuel efficiency tests when he transferred across the office to Australia’s longest-running motoring publication, Wheels Magazine. There he continued to hone his skills as a reviewer driving mass-market cars with more seats and less power. He also ran Wheels’ news section for a high-intensity period during Melbourne’s infamous lockdowns.

Now, Chris brings more than a decade of motoring journalism experience to the team at CarsGuide as a Senior Journalist. He joined in 2022 and works across areas ranging from the news desk and road tests to international new car launches. He also leads the editorial side of CarsGuide’s social media content.

He doesn’t get nearly as much time in his 1989 Mazda MX-5 as he would like, as he’s usually behind the wheel of a new car, constantly familiarising himself with the increasingly fast pace the new car industry is changing.

When he’s not working, he’s probably playing Australian Rules football, seeing live music, or answering everyone’s car questions at the pub.

You can find Chris on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Expertise

Road testing
New car news
Performance cars
Video presenting and broadcasting
Social media content

Education

Bachelor of Journalism | Queensland University of Technology | 2013-2015

Featured Publications

Unique Cars Magazine | 2014-2017
Australasian Bus and Coach | 2016
Farms & Farm Machinery | 2016-2017
MOTOR Magazine | 2017-2020
WhichCar | 2018-2022
Wheels Magazine | 2020-2022
CarsGuide | 2022-present

New AMG GT unveiled with more power

By Chris Thompson · 21 Aug 2023

Following the new Mercedes-AMG SL with which it was developed, the new AMG GT coupe has been revealed to replace the near-decade old first generation.Now with all-wheel drive as standard and four seats as an option to rival its foe from Stuttgart, the Por

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Will this Chery sedan come to Australia?

By Chris Thompson · 21 Aug 2023

Though relatively new to Australia in its current form with one model on sale, China's Chery Motors has a range of offerings in its home market - one of which is a small sedan we don't get here. Now, the Chery Arrizo 5 has a sporty GT variant, and while it's not currently locked in for Australia, it looks like its drivetrain might make it here in a model we already have - the Omoda 5 small SUV.

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BYD Leopard 5 hybrid SUV revealed

By Chris Thompson · 18 Aug 2023

The taps are well and truly on for the flow of new electrified rivals from China looking to take on established models, and the latest is a hybrid SUV that seems to have the likes of the Land Rover Defender, Ford Everest and Toyota Prado in its sights.

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Keiichi Tsuchiya to debut Ioniq 5 N at WTAC

By Chris Thompson · 17 Aug 2023

Hyundai is keen to make sure customers know its electric sports car, the Ioniq 5 N, is track-ready and designed for fun, so much so that it’s organised for the model to debut at World Time Attack Challenge 2023 (WTAC). Further to that, behind the wheel will be none other than ‘Drift King’ Keiichi Tsuchiya, whose career of sending cars sideways around corners is nothing short of legendary.

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Toyota reveals adorable multi-purpose ute

By Chris Thompson · 17 Aug 2023

Toyota is readying a baby ute, revealed in concept form at the 2023 Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS), intended for light commercial tasks or conversion into one of any business and service forms.

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2024 Lexus LM luxury van pricing confirmed

By Chris Thompson · 16 Aug 2023

If you were thinking about picking up a Lexus LM luxury people mover to ferry the toddlers around in, you might want to reconsider - or scotchgard the seats - as Lexus has confirmed pricing for its luxurious van.Starting at a price that doesn't quite riva

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Defender almost ready to top segment sales

By Chris Thompson · 16 Aug 2023

British car brands don’t often get to boast sales superiority - often instead appealing to enthusiasts and those who are looking for something with a certain style of prestige in smaller numbers.But Land Rover’s SUVs manage to sell in the thousands each year, especially the Discovery historically, making up a significant portion of the cars imported from England - this year so far 10,240 cars have come from the UK, 4276 of which wear a Land Rover badge.But it’s the new-ish Land Rover Defender that’s really doing the heavy lifting here, perhaps something many punters might not expect. Almost half the Land Rovers that have found homes in Australia in 2023 are Defenders, with 1956 deliveries this year so far.Not only does that make it the best-selling car under the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR these days) umbrella this year, but it almost makes it the best-selling premium SUV in its segment.In the 'large SUV over $70,000' segment as defined by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), only one individual model outsells the Land Rover Defender, and not by much - the BMW X5 has shifted 2105 units this year.Still, in just July alone, Defender outsold the large BMW 336 sales to 309, meaning there’s time for it to catch up by the end of the year.The next-closest behind the retro-inspired British SUV is the Mercedes-Benz GLE SUV at 1726 sales, but the GLE is also sold as an SUV-Coupe which, if going by the badge name and not the model itself, adds another 490 sales on that.CarsGuide asked JLR Australia if it expected the Defender to end up being its most popular model, as last year it only managed 1623 sales of the model for the full 12-month period.“As the chip shortage supply situation improves, and demand remains high globally, a third shift was added to our manufacturing plant at Nitra from March 2023,” a spokesperson said.“This has seen an increase in supply to Australia and other markets.”When specifically checking if this has the Defender on track for a record year of sales, they were unable to quickly confirm and will respond if able, but our look back through sales figures suggests it might be.In terms of which Defenders are the most popular, CarsGuide was told “to date, overall, the 110 body design has been most popular.”“Each of the Defender’s body designs appeal to different customers, so it is difficult to draw comparisons in terms of sales – especially as the Defender 130 and 130 Outbound have been introduced to the family after the 90 and 110.”

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How SUVs boosted Genesis towards success

By Chris Thompson · 16 Aug 2023

The Genesis story in Australia has been a slow burn - not exactly the six days it took in that Genesis - but it's starting to prove there's a market for its niche offering of luxury-focused models built from platforms and mechanicals of Hyundai and Kia's

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Kia EV5 ready to roll in production form

By Chris Thompson · 15 Aug 2023

After a surprise reveal in March following that of its bigger EV9 sibling, the mid-size Kia EV5 SUV is set to make its debut in production form this month.

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Full-size trucks continue to pick up sales

By Chris Thompson · 15 Aug 2023

They may not be as prolific in the inner city, but head to somewhere like New South Wales’ Central West region or Far North Queensland and you’ll get it - big utes have officially arrived.

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