Articles by Dom Tripolone

BYD is offering to refund millions of dollars worth of cars in Australia after an “administrative error”, according to reports.Hot on the heels of its best ever sales month in Australia, the Chinese behemoth has committed to refunding 1265 customers who were mistakenly given 2025 built vehicles instead of 2026 builds, according to the ABC.Build year can have a material effect on the vehicle’s value, with older stock usually discounted in dealerships and the car being worth less when it comes to resale time as it appears to be one year older.CEO of the Consumer Policy Research Centre Wrin Turner told the ABC the depreciation ramifications could leave owners "seriously out of pocket".Once BYD had been alerted to the error it contacted customers and offered a $1100 refund for the clerical error, but many weren’t happy with that compensation, according to the ABC report.Now the company is reportedly offering customers a full refund."It was an administrative error that occurred. There was no deceit," a BYD spokesperson told the ABC."It's important that we keep ourselves in good faith with Australian customers. We need to do the right thing."The BYD spokesperson told CarsGuide the company had used the dates the cars left the factory instead of the date they were manufactured.He stated there were no real differences to the cars delivered to the ones built in 2026.The spokesperson said most customers had chosen to accept the $1100. BYD will contact all affected owners again with the updated offer, which they are free to take up if they have already agreed to the previous offer.BYD sells vehicles for as little as $23,990 and as much as $70,000, all before on-road costs.Customers the ABC talked to bought Atto 3 electric SUVs for about $47,000. It is understood that most vehicles were the Atto 2 and 3 SUVs.This means the company could have to hand back about $50m.The returned vehicles will then be resold as used vehicles.BYD made a concerted effort to boost sales in the past three months, with the promise of 30,000 cars to arrive by the end of June earlier this year by General Manager BYD Asia Pacific Mr Liu Xueliang.The company delivered on that promise, culminating in the ballyhooed arrival of BYD’s own car carrier packed to the rafters with BYD vehicles.Liu said in April it was important the company meets the growing demand and is able to get customers as soon as they place an order.It appears in its rush to meet a massive increase in demand the company may have shipped some older stock to Australia.

A Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) check is an invaluable way to make sure there are no nasties waiting for you after you have bought a second-hand car.Many used car buyers may remember the old state-based REVS check, which is now national and has been renamed PPSR. They both perform the same service.The PPSR is a national online register managed by the federal government and allows individuals to check if an asset - such as a car, boat or trailer - has any debts against it.This means if the previous owner has an outstanding secured loan on the vehicle you’ve just purchased, it can be repossessed if they stop meeting repayments.It can also protect buyers from buying an uninsurable vehicle. You can check to see if a car has been written off or stolen.You can perform the PPSR check for as little as $2 via the official government website, or $7 via an assisted phone call. You can pay with a credit or debit card.There are some providers that will do it for free on your behalf.A PPSR check won’t tell you how much is still owing on the vehicle, the owner of the vehicle or its ownership history, odometer reading or if there are any outstanding fines applied to the vehicle.If you decide to do a PPSR check, it is best to do it the day before or the day of purchase to get the most up-to-date information.The most sure fire way to do a PPSR check is visit the federal government - https://www.ppsr.gov.au/ - and follow the simple steps. It costs just $2 and you will have the results instantly on screen, with the certificate emailed to you within 10 minutes.Other third party websites such as Budget Direct Insurance will do the check on your behalf for free, but will collect your personal information in the process.All you need is the vehicle’s VIN or chassis number. A VIN number is a unique 17-digit code used to identify a car. The licence plate number will not work.The most likely spot to find a vehicle's VIN number is the bottom corner of the windscreen, and it is viewable from the outside of the car. If it isn’t there then it is likely in the driver’s side door jam near where the door latches when closed.You’ll also need a credit or debit card to pay for the transaction.The certificate issued will have a subhead that rears PPSR Registration Details. Under this it may say: “There is no security interest or other registration kind registered on the PPSR against the serial number in the search criteria details.”This means there is no current debt security associated with the vehicle. The word current is important, as this may change and it is why it is best to do the check the day of purchase.If there are details of the PPSR registration, then there is money owed on the vehicle and it could be repossessed if it isn’t paid off. As mentioned before, it won’t tell you how much is still owed on the vehicle.Underneath that there is another subhead - Additional Motor Vehicle Details - NEVDIS (National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System).This is where you will see if the vehicle has been written off or stolen. If it says not recorded under those sections then there is no current record of the vehicle being written-off or stolen.Some companies may charge up to $40 for the service as they will include additional information. According to the PPSR website these companies will use the “Powered by PPSR” logo to show that specific data was obtained from the official government website. They may also provide the certificate.

We are halfway through the year, and what a half it has been for the Australian new-car market.The biggest story of the year has been the superstar rise of BYD, and the fall of a few Japanese stars.Electric car and plug-in hybrid sales have surged on the back of sky-high petrol prices and the growth of affordable options.And Australians continue to fall out of love with utes.So what’s in store for the rest of the year? These are our predictions.BYD had a monster June selling 18,881 vehicles, but despite that monster effort it was still 243 sales behind Toyota. That epic result for BYD was fuelled by the arrival of its own car carriers packed to the gills with BYDs and Denzas.It coincided with Toyota struggling to get production of the RAV4 and HiLux up to steam.Toyota has said it has now secured an additional 20,000 vehicles to arrive in the second half of this year, with the majority being RAV4s and HiLuxes.It is now predicting it will sell 230,000 vehicles for the full year. That means it will sell 22,500 vehicles every month for the rest of 2026.That kind of volume puts BYD’s challenge to bed … for this year at least.Toyota's former Head of Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley called it a few years ago, but the data now backs it up — ute sales have peaked.Sales of the volume - and profit making - four-wheel-drive utes are down 11 per cent for the year. And crucially they were down 14 per cent in June, which is typically one of the strongest months for ute sales as the End of Financial Year wraps up.This is despite a range of new models dropping in the past 12 months, including an updated Toyota HiLux, Kia Tasman, MG U9 and a next-generation Nissan Navara, among others. None have lit the sales charts on fire.Not even BYD’s plug-in hybrid Shark 6 can save the segment, with its sales down about nine per cent this year.That’s bad news for carmakers planning a ute assault in the coming months.Chery’s ballyhooed diesel hybrid Stockman is headed our way this year and could replicate the Shark 6’s success.Hyundai is already keeping its options open. Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano told CarsGuide recently there were lots of variables that could affect the timing of the new ute."It's definitely going to happen. The timing is really the issue, because if it's built in the US... and if the FX (foreign exchange rate) is favourable, it would be sooner. But if it's not, we don't need another ute that's priced too high," said Romano."I'd say we're still looking at between now and 2030. There's a timeframe, but even that isn't a guarantee and it would be subject to us saying 'that's the right ute for Australia', and I haven't got to that point yet that anything we're doing at this stage is a guaranteed right vehicle for Australia."It appears a ute is no longer the guaranteed success it once was.The rise of BYD, Chery, GWM and MG has forced a few long-time big sellers to the back of the pack.It is hard to see Subaru, Nissan and Mitsubishi turning it around. All have had their lunch cut by cheaper, and flashier, Chinese alternatives.All have few electric or plug-in hybrid options, which means they will likely be slugged with fines under the federal government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).This will likely lead to higher car prices, which will further erode their position against cut-price Chinese brands with a high level of electrification across the range.Even the mighty Mazda isn’t immune after a tough June, and Aussies will have to wait another 18 months at least to get their hands on a hybrid version of the CX-5, its most popular model.Mazda does have a range of EVs coming from its Chinese partner Changan.Nissan will follow a similar path with EVs and plug-in hybrids from its Chinese partner, Dongfeng, after denying Aussies the new Leaf and Juke EVs.Mitsubishi has paired up with Taiwanese brand Foxconn, which is a sub-division of the company that produces iPhones, to make its electric cars, with little to no plans to make EVs themselves.Subaru has a bunch of EVs co-developed with Toyota, but has walked back plans to make some of its own.EV sales boomed in the past three months off the back of high fuel prices caused by the Iran war.Most carmakers are claiming inquiries have returned to normal after a bumper few months.It is still unlikely that we will see a return to sub-10 per cent market share for EVs as more and more options become available across all price pointsGeely is about to launch its EX2, which is the most popular EV in China, and more brands are focusing on the volume-selling segments as the cost of making EVs drops.So we won’t see the massive surge from the past month, but there will be real sustainable growth in the next six months.

The days of big diesel dual-cab utes could soon be over, as carmakers around the globe pour resources into a new type of workhorse.Ford has had huge success with its small Maverick ute in the US, and now others want a slice of the pie.Some of the world’s biggest ute makers are pouring resources into developing new bite-sized utes that are reminiscent of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon utes of the past.Forget V8 grunt though, these new work-ponies will use hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric power for work and play.They also ditch the 4WDing and load-lugging focused ladder frame underpinnings used by current big dual-cabs for a more road-biased SUV-like platform.These are the four best examples in the works right now.The Chinese behemoth is preparing to reveal its second ute later this year, but we already know plenty about the Mako — or Shark 5 as it will be known in some markets.In Brazil the Mako will use a plug-in hybrid set-up to produce 175kW and deliver about 100km of EV-only driving range. It will also be available in two- or all-wheel drive.Patent filings in Europe point to even more power, with a potent 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid combo making 200kW.It will still be a dual-cab, with spy photos showing four-doors. The tray is smaller and styling is more reminiscent of other BYD SUVs such as the Sealion 5 than the tough looks of the Shark 6.Toyota has been caught testing its Corolla Cross-based ute in South America, codenamed Project 150D.Spy shots show a little dual-cab, in the same vein as the BYD Mako, driving in heavy camouflage. It is believed to be based on Toyota’s TNGA-C platform, which also forms the base for the Toyota Corolla, Prius and C-HR.Using that platform means the ute could have petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid options.It will likely use a similar set-up as the Prius, which means a 2.0-litre petrol engine with two electric motors to make 166kW and all-wheel drive.It is expected to launch in South America next year. Toyota North America executives have also expressed an interest in a small ute based on the RAV4.Ford is following on from the success of its Maverick ute with an all-electric alternative.It hasn’t been named yet, but it's odds-on to be called Ranchero after the company has trademarked the name in markets such as Australia for use on a pick-up truck. Ranchero also a throwback to an old car-based ute from the US discontinued in the late 1970s.It is being developed by Ford’s new ‘skunkworks’ team in California, which has been tasked with creating a low cost EV platform.Ford has publicly said it wants it to be priced about US$30,000 ($43,000) when it goes on sale next year.At its heart will be a Lithium-ferro-Phosphate (LFP) battery, which will help keep costs down but will put a lower ceiling on its EV driving range. Don’t expect much more than 400km.Not much else is known, but it should be available in two- and all-wheel drive layouts. Slate Auto is a new electric car company backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and its first vehicle will be the modular Slate Truck.The Slate Truck is a little single-cab ute that can be converted into an SUV.It is a bare bones proposition with a starting price of US$24,950 ($36,200), which is several thousand more than originally promised.The Slate Truck uses a 63kWh Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP) battery that delivers a driving range of up to 330km. It can absorb up to 120kW via a DC fast charger or 11kW when connected to a compatible AC charger.Power comes from a single rear electric motor that produces 135kW and 264Nm.For now it is a US-only proposition, but so was Amazon and look at it now.

The winds of change are blowing a gale through the Australian car industry, as new brands and vehicles whizz past old favourites on the sales charts.Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries boss Tony Weber said the June result was a paradigm shift for the new vehicle market. “The Australian automotive market has shifted on its axis during the first months of 2026. This year is likely to represent a significant turning point for the Australian automotive industry,” said Weber.BYD is officially a category five storm blowing in the direction of Toyota, Ford, Mazda and others that have dominated the top five selling brands for the past decade.BYD sold 18,881 new cars in June, all of them either electric or plug-in hybrids. This brought its three month total to 34,794 after its much ballyhooed effort to send its own ships packed to the gills with cars to Australia.Toyota had battened down the hatches in June and fortified itself against the fierce onslaught of BYD. It managed 19,124 sales in the past month to hold on to first place.It is understood that Toyota has increased supply going forward and is planning a monster second half of the year.Ford bounced back to third place with 9181 sales. Tesla came roaring up behind the Blue Oval with 8670 sales in June, which is impressive considering it only sells two vehicles.The Tesla Model Y was the best selling vehicle in the country with 8072 examples finding a home in the past month.Stablemates Kia (8005) and Hyundai (7480) held firm in fifth and sixth spots, while Mazda slid down to seventh (7278).Chinese brands finished out the top 10 with GWM (6104), MG (5001) and Chery (4505) muscling out old favourites Mitsubishi (4150), Subaru (2902) and Nissan (2337).A few other Chinese brands are lurking outside the top 10, with Geely 13th with 3507 sales and Chery’s Omoda Jaecoo sub brand 15th after moving 2541 units.Utes still delivered strong results, which is typical for the End of Financial Year period.The Toyota HiLux was the Japanese brand’s best selling model with 5175 sales, and Ford’s Ranger was the second best selling model overall with 5999 sales. BYD’s plug-in hybrid Sark 6 ute was its second best selling model, with 3398 sales.Top 10 selling car brands, June 2026 Top 10 selling vehicles, June 2026  

Tesla has reasserted itself as the electric car king of Australia.The American EV maker sold 8670 vehicles in June, its biggest month ever, according to data released by the Electric Vehicle Council. It was so big that it beat the previous best month, which was May, by 26 per cent.It will be in the running to beat all other carmakers in June except for Toyota.Leading the charge was the Model Y SUV, which recorded 8072 of those sales. This will likely make it the best-selling vehicle in the nation when the full sales data gets released tomorrow, as no vehicle in recent memory has hit that figure.The Model 3 sedan chipped in with roughly 600 sales in June.Tesla has asserted its dominance as the premier electric vehicle brand in the country, with a total of 23,588 sales through the first six months. This is equal to a 66 per cent increase through June.Electric vehicle sales have experienced strong growth this year, especially since the Iran war and the resulting high fuel prices.What makes Tesla’s June result even more impressive is that fuel prices across the country had moderated and were effectively back to normal by the end of the month.Tesla has a healthy supply pipeline, with the brand’s local website quoting delivery times for the standard Model Y in July to August. The three-row Model Y L appears to be more in demand with expected delivery times between August and September. The more niche five-seat Model Y Performance won’t land in your driveway until September or October if ordered today.Tesla would be one of the main beneficiaries of the federal government’s Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption for electric vehicles.This FBT exemption allows buyers to pay for the vehicle pre-tax and to side-step the 47 per cent FBT rate.The tax break has been a huge hit, with the scheme costing more than 10 times what the government had forecasted. There were calls for the scheme to be axed to help alleviate the predicted budget deficit, and it is perceived to help a greater proportion of well-off Australians.The federal government announced earlier this year it would be walking back the plan, with it to end by March, 2029.

Mitsubishi is preparing to launch its new Pajero 4WD in the coming months, and a steady drip feed of information is starting to appear.The latest dispatches from the Japanese brand show the new Mitsubishi Pajero will be ready to rumble off-road when it arrives in Australia later this year.It will feature what Mitsubishi calls a Multi Meter, which is a modern, digital version of the old triple meters from previous generations.The new digital readouts will show altitude, compass heading, ambient temperature, vehicle pitch and roll angles and left and right torque distribution. The latter points to advanced torque vectoring and yaw control, which are two crucial elements of Mitsubishi's Super Select-II 4WD set-up that is available on top-spec Triton GSR.The digital readout also points to a hi-tech cabin, which will likely surpass anything Mitsubishi currently offers.Mitsubishi Australia’s GM of Product Strategy and PR Bruce Hampel previously told CarsGuide the Pajero will be the brand's premium flagship, which fits into the hi-tech classy cabin that is teased.Details of the new Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol rival are scarce, but we now it will be based on the Triton ute.This means a 2.4-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine, which makes 150kW and 470Nm. This is matched to a six-speed auto driving all four wheels.Australian government homologation documents, which confirm a vehicle is approved for sale and often appear several months before models land in dealerships, have shown the Pajero will be available in GLX, GLS, Exceed and GSR trims.The GLX and GLS will be simple affairs, while the Exceed will likely have a plush cabin. The GSR should be the toughest looking, with the latter potentially mirroring the Triton GSR with blacked-out styling.The Pajero hasn’t been revealed in full, with a debut pencilled in for later this year, but it has been spied undergoing testing in Australia numerous times.The camouflage cars wear blocky, hard-edged styling that is popular with 4WD buyers, and synonymous with Pajeroes of old.Mitsubishi is also planning a range of Pajero models. There is no official word on what they might be yet, but speculation out of Japan points to a mini Pajero and possibly a shortened three-door version. Those models likely won't be seen in public until next decade.

The new Mitsubishi Pajero is coming in hot, with its Australian launch closing in.Details of the Japanese brand’s rough-and-tumble four-wheel drive are starting to surface ahead of the vehicle’s launch before the end of the year.Australia has already been confirmed as one of the first markets in the world to get the new Pajero, but now it has been revealed there will be four Pajeroes to choose from.Government homologation documents, which confirm a vehicle is approved for sale and often appear several months before models land in dealerships, show the Pajero will be available in GLX, GLS, Exceed and GSR trims.This will give the fifth-generation Pajero the firepower to take on the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol.Mitsubishi is keeping information close to its chest, with all other details usually found in the approval documents missing.If we look at Mitsubishi's other models we can get an idea of what each grade may represent.The GLX and GLS will be workman like off-roaders, focusing on capability with less of the showy pampering of higher-end variants.Exceed versions will likely be the most luxe of the bunch with premium finishes throughout.  The GSR should be the toughest looking, with the latter potentially mirroring the Triton GSR with blacked-out styling and even increased 4WD capabilities.Mitsubishi hasn’t revealed what the Pajero will look like, but it has been spotted testing in Australia wearing beefy, blocky styling similar to the incoming Nissan Patrol.We do know it will be based on the current Mitsubishi Triton ute, which means it will use a rugged ladder frame that is also found underneath the LandCruiser and Patrol 4WDs.More recent Pajero generations have used a unibody structure, which is used in SUVs and passenger cars. This means it is often not as sturdy off-road, but is lighter, more fuel efficient and composed on the road than conventional ladder-framed 4WDs.Technical details haven’t been revealed, but it is odds on to use the same set-up as the Triton.This means a 2.4-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine, which makes 150kW and 470Nm. This is matched to a six-speed auto driving all four wheels.All or several grades are likely to be fitted with Mitsubishi’s Super Select 4WD-II tech, which brings selectable drive modes for different road surfaces and active yaw control. A rear differential lock is near certainty, too.Mitsubishi is also planning a range of Pajero models. There is no official word on what they might be yet, but speculation out of Japan points to a mini Pajero and possibly a shortened three-door version. Those models likely won't be seen in public until next decade.

Diesel dual-cab utes are in decline, but there could be a saviour from an unlikely source.The Chery Stockman is coming this year packing a diesel hybrid set-up, which some of the biggest names in the business haven’t been able to develop.GWM is also developing diesel-electric technology to fit to its range of utes and 4WDs.Chery’s will arrive first and it will determine whether the tech is a winner or an also-ran, and it could decide the fate of diesel dual-cabs as we know it.Australia’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) is starting to bite, with carmakers that sell too many high CO2-emitting vehicles to be slugged with fines.These fines in most cases will be passed onto consumers, which means high-polluting vehices — such as utes — could become more expensive.The threshold for CO2 gets lower every year until 2030, which means the fines will keep rising until utes — in their current form — are prohibitively expensive.However, carmakers can offset the fines by selling a large number of electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.That’s bad news for brands like Ford, Isuzu, Mazda, Mitsubsihi and Toyota that only have small electric vehicle sales or none at all.Chery and GWM could now be throwing the industry a lifeline.The Chery Stockman will use a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel engine paired with an electric motor or two and a sizeable battery.Details are scarce, but its torque outputs will be mega.The high torque figures delivered by the combination of diesel and electric power — two fuel sources that create a lot of torque — is one of the benefits of this new set-up compared to more conventional petrol-electric plug-in hybrids, according to Chery’s Executive Director of Engineering Peter Matkin.BYD, Ford and GWM already have petrol plug-in hybrids on sale, and Toyota is believed to be preparing one, too.Matkin suggested carmakers had shied away from the diesel hybrids in favour of petrol plug-ins as the latter was easier to engineer.Petrol plug-in hybrids lack the grunt and capabilities dished out by diesel dual-cabs.Both the Shark 6 and Ranger Hybrid have weak points. The Shark 6 can’t tow or carry enough and isn’t as surefooted off-road, while the Ranger can do this but it sacrifices electric driving range in the process. Neither add up to an ideal hybrid dual-cab.This is where the diesel hybrids come in, according to Chery Australia’s Chief Operating Officer Lucas Harris.“I believe Chery has one chance to prove that we can build and deliver a highly capable ute,” said Harris.“And so to do that, it needs towing capability, payload capability, all-terrain capability. Particularly all-terrain capability, you know, you get people towing caravans on the beach. You really do need the torque and power delivery that a diesel gives you down low to be able to do those things.”Chery said the new ute will be able to tow 3500kg and handle a one-tonne payload.It will have front, centre and rear diff locks, and it should have low gearing for proper off-roading.If this new breed of diesel hybrids don’t change the game and attract a meaningful amount of buyers, then the writing is on the wall for diesel dual-cabs… petrol hybrids have won.

Mini utes are the hottest new trend in motoring, and a brand new name has been added to the crush of bite-sized workhorses.Slate Auto is a new electric car company backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and its first vehicle will be the modular Slate Truck. It was first revealed in April, 2025, but there has been crickets every since ... until now.The Slate Truck is a little single-cab ute that can be converted into an SUV.It is a bare bones proposition with a starting price of US$24,950 ($36,200), which is several thousand more than originally promised.Turning it into an SUV with seating for five, but still two doors, lifts the price to US$29,950 ($43,450).The Slate Truck uses a 63kWh Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP) battery that delivers a driving range of up to 330km. It can absorb up to 120kW via a DC fast charger or 11kW when connected to a compatible AC charger.Power comes from a single rear electric motor that produces 135kW and 264Nm.It has a handy payload of 700kg, which drops to 570kg for the heavier SUV, with the tray a similar length to a dual-cab ute. It can tow up to 900kg.Its rear-wheel-drive layout means there is a useable cargo area under the bonnet, which trumps any diesel- or petrol-powered ute out there.Slate will begin delivering Trucks at the end of the year in the US. There is no word on if the vehicles will be exported to Australia.Slate is preparing to sell their vehicles direct to customers, with no conventional dealerships. This could make expanding globally easier, especially given Bezos’ expertise in global e-commerce.The Slate Truck isn’t the only small ute in the world, with BYD, Ford and Toyota all building new work ponies.This new breed of small utes isn’t built on a rugged ladder frame that is designed to handle serious off-roading, but are car-based utes in a similar vein to the old Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon utes.Ford’s new electric small ute has been spotted testing in the US and is the first vehicle from its new Skunkworks, which was created to develop the new low-cost electric vehicle platform. It is due to launch in 2027, with Ford aiming for a circa-US$30,000 (A$42,600) price tag.This would join its hybrid Maverick ute, which has been a smash hit in the US.Toyota has been caught testing a new Corolla Cross-based ute in South America, and is again expected to launch in Latin America next year.It is expected to be based on the company’s TNGA-C platform, which would grant it access to the Prius’ plug-in hybrid set-up, as well as the tried-and-tested 2.0-litre self-charging hybrid set-up.BYD has also confirmed the Mako ute, which is expected to burst out of South America.In Brazil, the Mako is a plug-in hybrid producing an expected 175kW, and promising a circa-100km EV-only driving range, along with a choice of two- or all-wheel drive.A European launch also seems likely – though under the name Shark 5 – given patent filings have appeared in the EU. Reports also point to a flagship 1.5-litre PHEV variant producing 200kW of power being developed.