Articles by Laura Berry

Australians have been obsessed with SUVs for over a decade, but there are signs the infatuation is coming to an end and you can put it down to electric cars.

That’s it, I’m calling it. We’re now entering the post-bling era of cars. The less is more period, where it’s cooler to have basic but customisable interiors with smaller screens (if any), fewer features (like heated steering wheels and even stereos) and no extravagant touches like ambient lighting and burr walnut trim. How do I know? Hold that thought, I’ll tell you.Recently Romanian car maker Dacia announced its Hipster concept. It’s an embarrassing naming decision and reeks of the Steve Buscemi 'How do you do, fellow kids?' meme, but the idea behind it is genius, from a business, tech and car culture point of view.The Hipster (cringe) is a small electric trucky-looking people mover, kind of like the Nissan Cube only ready for Armageddon. Currently it's a concept and Dacia is trying to see if a production version will pass European rules and regulations.The Hipster (ugghh) is seriously basic in that the interior is just four seats, a speedo and a steering wheel. A phone holder means you can use your own sat nav and play music (there are optional Bluetooth speakers). The interior is modular and you can option add-ons you might need, but not door handles - they’re just straps hanging from the outside and the windows slide manually.I love it and think the next generation of car buyers currently terrorising the streets on e-bikes will love it, too, because only their great- grandparents were impressed by polished wood trim and power windows.Dacia thinks it has cracked the popular car code with the Hipster (eewww), which it says draws on the simplicity of cult favourites like the Citroen 2CV and Land Rover Defender.There’s a good deal of marketing spin going on here because there’s something else behind the plan, which I’ll get to. So, yes, the 2CV was basic - I used to have one. And the Land Rover Series 1 was also agricultural. But that’s because both were built with agriculture in mind - for farmers who needed simple vehicles with few things to go wrong and an engine that was easy to work on. That doesn’t explain why my 2CV broke down every time we drove it somewhere, but anyway the utilitarian nature of these simple workhorses was appealing and they became as dependable, as hardworking and as charming as the farm dog. The vehicles were ridiculously popular and became business success stories for Citroen and Land Rover.  The cult status came later after city people chose one of these utilitarian vehicles to give them a tough or whimsical look, while making a statement to the rest of the world that they cared not for luxuries like doors that stayed closed when you go around a corner (true story).Dacia is trying to cut straight to the end game and make lots of money from the city types (hipsters, I guess) without doing the hard yards on a farm.There are already new cars out there that have achieved this. The Suzuki Jimny is the perfect example of a small, hardy little off-roader that’s been around forever, has a cult status and probably driven by more people in cities than the bush.What stops me thinking Dacia is being disingenuous is it has stated that the core reason behind a basic car is to reduce the weight of an electric vehicle thereby increasing its driving range because it doesn’t use as much energy. That's as good a reason as any and a very electric era approach to providing a better product to customers.I hope Dacia can make this work. I also hope it changes its mind about the name. I refuse to write it again.Taking a similar approach is the Slate pick-up from United States company Slate Auto. It’s a modular little ute that’s highly customisable and can even be converted into an SUV. Think cool e-bike but in mini-truck form right down to the standard matt black and grey colour. Like the car Dacia wants to build, the Slate Truck doesn’t come standard with a media screen but has a phone holder and wind-up windows (power ones are an option, as are speakers for music). An SUV kit can be optioned which gives you two seats which slot into the tray and a canopy.It looks much better than it sounds and I think the demand will be there from people wanting a car as different from their parents’ Lexus as possible.The aim of increasing driving range through better energy efficiency, along with the bling backlash will be catalysts for more basic cars you can customise. We’re right at the start of this exciting era that will begin as a niche and possibly become a lot bigger.Just don’t call it the Hipster.

Recently one of my colleagues wrote an opinion piece praising the virtues of convertibles and sadly made the observation that affordable new ones have now become extremely rare. I’d like to set the record straight and clarify my own position on cars without a roof — they’re terrible in every way.

The Berry family knows three-row family cars, having long-term tested many including the GWM Tank 500, Kia Carnival and Mitsubishi Outlander. So, how will Skoda's new Kodiaq Sportline seven-seater SUV stand up over the coming months? So far, so great!

Nissan's new little Tekton SUV pays homage to the iconic Patrol and will rival Suzuki’s Vitara and Kia Seltos when it arrives in 2026.

Dacia thinks it has cracked the code for what makes a car popular with its little Hipster EV concept, but that’s up to you.The Hipster EV is just a concept, but Dacia reckons the blocky little EV will appeal not just because of its cute looks, but due to its simplicity and affordability in the way cult classics such as the Citroen 2CV and Land Rover Defender.Speaking to British motoring publication Autocar, Dacia’s chief designer David Durand said popular people’s cars all have the same ingredients — basic design and a low price — and the Hipster will, too.“All those popular cars were super appreciated and they were not expensive,” Durand told Autocar.“They were super popular; you had a lot on the streets. So for us, it's an example that we should be able to reproduce this mindset, and in these situations, essentials become super cool.”And by essential Durand is referring to the very basics needed by modern standards in cars. In the case of the Hipster the vehicle has been stripped of what Dacia considers unnecessary in order to reduce weight and cost.Sliding glass windows have been used instead of power operated ones, exterior door handles are just fabric straps and inside there isn’t a large screen or media system — just a mount for your phone if you need sat nav or music — bluetooth speakers can be optioned. Other options include cupholders, armrests and there’s no key — just an app on your phone to lock and unlock the car and start it. Dacia’s Director of Product Performance Patrice Levy-Bentold told Autocar that companies need to consider the ‘less is more’ approach especially when it comes to electric vehicles. “We cannot continue with this 'always more' trend, which is why we have to propose a completely different approach, to disrupt again with the vision of what we should bring, and Hipster concept is exactly this," said Levy-Bentold."Let's just go back to the essentials: what do we really need on a daily basis?""In daily driving, you don't need a 1.5- or two-tonne car with an 80kWh battery capable of doing 0-100kph in four seconds. You don't need this.”Details of the Hipster’s battery capacity have yet to be announced, nor have many other technical specifications such as motors or output. We do know the dimensions which reveal the concept to be three metres long, 1.55m wide and 1.53m tall. We also know the Hipster is a four seater with a 70 litre boot but with the rear row folded opens up to 500 litres.Dacia is a Romanian car maker and part of the Renault-Nissan alliance. While Dacia as a brand isn’t available in Australia its models are rebadged as Renaults with the latest being the Duster SUV, which arrived here in July, 2025.

What if electric cars and hybrid utes aren’t the next big thing? Should you buy one or wait for hydrogen? Or do you just stick to petrol and diesel?

Ford has announced its Bronco is now available for pre-order in China making the wait for the cute off-road SUV for Australians that bit more frustrating. Don't stress too much, the Chinese version of the Bronco is unlikely to be the one that we’ll get.

Zeekr has just revealed its 9X large plug-in hybrid super SUV in China along with its price, and it’s clear Range Rover is in its sights.

The arrival of Audi’s biggest SUV ever - the Q9 - is imminent according to German reports saying the brand will finally launch its BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS rival in 2026.