Articles by Stephen Ottley

They’ve said the quiet part out loud. For over a year there has been growing tension and stress amongst the established car companies as more and more Chinese brands not only enter the Australian market, but have near-instant sales success. This has led to several off-the-record, and unsubstantiated, remarks about the ‘government support’ that helps the Chinese brands and a general angst between the two sides of the industry. But publicly executives from the establishment have put on a brave face and talked confidently about their future - until now. Duncan Tait, Group Chief Executive of Inchcape, the distributor of Subaru in Australia, has admitted the brand is facing a “challenging situation in Australia” as sales have plummeted 29 per cent in the first nine months of the year. Tait explained that Inchcape will need to make major changes to turn around its fortunes in this country, as the landscape continues to shift. “Australia remains a challenge - our key brand (Subaru) has underperformed, with deteriorating competitiveness in a rapidly-evolving market,” he admitted. “We are taking further decisive action there, alongside our existing restructuring activity. We are confident these actions will improve our business in Australia over time, but we expect the current challenges in that market to continue impacting our performance there.” Inchcape has already announced it is relinquishing the Deepal brand in Australia, handing it over to its Chinese owners, Changan. In the wake of the company’s decision to also drop the Peugeot brand, this leaves Inchcape’s automotive portfolio with only Subaru and Foton. “We continue to focus on ensuring Inchcape has a portfolio of brands aligned with our strategic growth objectives, and I would like to thank Changan for its partnership and wish the brand continued success in the Australian market,” said Colin Christie, Managing Director, Inchcape Australasia. The public acknowledgement of the challenges facing these so-called ‘legacy brands’ is a first, but Subaru is far from the only brand feeling the pain as the likes of BYD, GWM and Chery accumulate increasing market share. Hyundai recently announced it has dropped plans to offer the European-sourced Ioniq 3 electric car in Australia, citing difficulty getting it competitive against an array of more-affordable Chinese rivals. Even best-selling brands Toyota, Ford and Mazda have suffered double-digit sales decline in 2026, while the likes of Nissan (down 33 per cent), Mitsubishi (down 30 per cent) and Volkswagen (down 25 per cent) have all seen their sales plummet. Such dramatic drops inevitably leads to questions around the long-term plans for these brands that were once favourites amongst Australian buyers. But with more and more Chinese brands arriving in Australia, the “challenging situation” and “deteriorating competitiveness” of certain brands will become increasingly important to watch, as no brand is guaranteed a place in such circumstances.

Porsche won’t make the same mistake twice.  With sales of the all-electric Macan tracking down nearly 80 per cent year-to-date, the company has vowed to keep its Cayenne petrol and plug-in hybrid variants as long as possible, deep into the next decade. Speaking at the launch of the all-new Cayenne Electric, Porsche Cars Australia PR and Marketing Director Alexis Truscott acknowledged the challenges that have faced the company’s electric switch but said the brand is looking to ensure buyers have more choice with the bigger SUV. “ Definitely the volume sales and targets for the electric Macan are low but we are hitting our targets and happy with how it's going,” Truscott told CarsGuide. “With the Cayenne, it's very early days. We only had the point of sale two weeks ago. Enquiry's really strong and the customers that have driven already are saying that it's amazing. I think it's probably too early to tell what it's going to look like, but it's positive at the moment. And with the Cayenne it's really about providing the customers with choice. We've got the electric, we've got the hybrid, we've got the combustion engine.” While there has yet to be any public commitment from Porsche to introduce a new-generation of its petrol and hybrid Cayenne variants, insiders have indicated that a major upgrade of the current ‘E3’ Cayenne is likely to arrive in 2027. How extensive this upgrade is remains to be seen, but it will likely need to be significant in order to keep what is already a nine-year-old model relevant for several more years to come. The challenge for Porsche appears to be the relatively slow uptake of electric luxury and performance vehicles, such as its Macan and Taycan. Electric vehicle sales are up dramatically in 2026 as consumers take advantage of new, more-affordable models as well as begin to look for alternatives as fuel prices increase due to the on-going US-Iran War. But the most popular models are, unsurprisingly, the cheaper, more mainstream options like the Tesla Model Y, BYD Sealion 7 and Geely EX5. But Truscott said there are indications that this trend is changing.  “ Particularly in Australia people are much more open to considering electric as an option,” she said.  “Like all the other brands, when there was the unrest in the Middle East, certainly we saw inquiry and order intake for electric Macan increase,” she added. “ I couldn't say that there's empirical evidence to say that's an ongoing industry change or that this is necessarily the ideal time for electric Cayenne. It's probably more that we're very confident that the product is incredible, and that sitting alongside the other options for customers, it's the right thing to do.” Keeping the Cayenne petrol and plug-in hybrid is an understandable move from the brand, despite the impressive credentials of the new electric version. Given the drop in Macan sales, Porsche Australia simply cannot afford another model to slump, especially not the Cayenne. It accounts for almost half of all Porsche sales in 2026 in Australia, almost twice as many as the next most popular model, the 911. Despite its sales plunge, the Macan remains the company’s third best-seller.

The Leapmotor B05 Design is a new, would-be rival to the likes of the BYD Dolphin, GAC Aion UT and MG4, as well as petrol or hybrid hatchbacks like the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and Kia K4, blending European expertise with Chinese value.  Priced from $39,990 drive-away, this electric hatchback isn’t the cheapest on the market, but it does come reasonably well equipped for the price. Leapmotor B05 Design standard equipment: 19-inch alloy wheels LED headlights  8.8-inch digital driver display 14.6-inch multimedia touchscreen Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Satellite Navigation Wireless phone charger NFC & Bluetooth key Fixed panoramic glass roof with electric sunshade 12-speaker Surround Audio System  Interior ambient lighting Heated steering wheel Heated front seats Rear centre armrest and cupholders While the B05 was very much driven by the European side of the Leapmotor International operation because of its preference for hatchbacks, there’s no doubt it has a distinctive family look to sit nicely alongside the B10 and C10 SUVs. The company says it has a ‘coupe silhouette’ and a ‘wide-body stance’ to give it a sporty look, which also helps it cut through the air better and help with the range. While it’s very much a conventional five-door hatch, it does look well proportioned and inoffensive, which is a good place for Leapmotor to find itself in these early days in Australia. Inside, the overall level of design and finish has been lifted from previous Leapmotor models, and while not yet to European or even some Japanese standards, this is a clear step forward for the brand. Technology is clearly a key selling point for Leapmotor, with a lot of its marketing presentation focused on a younger demographic  It certainly has a clean and straightforward interior, but that’s expected from most modern cars, but in particular the Chinese. There are the two screens for all information and entertainment, but almost no buttons or switchgear.  It means you need to either rely on the voice command, which can be hit and miss, navigate the multimedia screen menus or remember what each of the multi-purpose buttons and dials on the steering wheel do. In short, it’s not a particularly user-friendly car to drive, especially when you’re new and learning its controls. The digital key is a nice touch, but the need to place the NFC card into a specific spot feels like it diminishes the ease-of-use for what is a ‘keyless’ car. The B05 Design is powered by a 160kW and 240Nm electric motor which, unlike most hatches these days, drives the rear wheels.  The Design is powered by a 67.1kWh lithium phosphate battery (LFP) that provides a theoretical driving range of 482km. On the safety front, the B05 Design is equipped with enough safety features to score a five-star ANCAP rating. However, some of the systems are poorly calibrated, in particular the lane keeping assist, which diminishes what is an otherwise pleasant driving experience.

It has taken nearly a decade of development, but Tesla has finally done it - they have made the world’s dumbest car. And, in true Tesla style, they have over-delivered on their promise (a decade in the making), making it incredibly dangerous, too.  I’m not mad at the world’s media, including many of my motoring colleagues, for falling for the hype, I’m just disappointed. Because there are some pretty major holes in what Elon Musk and his team at Tesla showed off last week. Of course, that was the point, show off some flashy gimmicks and make everyone pay attention to these wild stunts and not question the ‘how’ and the ‘why’, as well as the major safety issues it raises.  Let’s start with the obvious - it’s not a flying car. As Buzz Lightyear would say, it was “falling with style” rather than taking flight. As for its ‘flip’ over the rest of Tesla’s line-up, to say that it was ‘flying’ would be akin to saying skateboards can fly.  The demonstration, while unquestionably real and not AI and understandably attention-grabbing, was not a true reflection of what Tesla and Musk are promising. Evidence suggests it was basically a full-scale drone, with no human inside and it was seemingly just a simple ladder-frame chassis with a body on top and thrusters and fans underneath. Musk admitted that they didn’t have a human inside the car “to make sure we don't kill anyone!” Which is not particularly reassuring from a brand that has consistently ‘beta tested’ technologies on public roads with owners.  Musk also said: “Now I should say that this is not necessarily a safety optimised car, but it takes the fun meter to 11 out of 10.” I’m all for having fun with cars, but safety must come first. To be candid, most motorists have a hard enough time driving safely on the ground. Adding in the complexity of flight is simply a recipe for disaster. Tesla has said the ‘flying’ elements will be autonomous, but again, based on the autonomous functions already in cars not exactly working with a perfect track record, launching cars into the air with rocket thrusters just seems like a recipe for disaster.  It was able to climb the vertical ramp because it has a series of fans to suck it to the ground. But this is not new technology, it was introduced in Formula 1 in 1978 and more recently the McMurtry Sterling has demonstrated it too can hold itself in place upside down. Of course, no-one is actually going to drive upside down, that’s just more attention-seeking behaviour from Tesla, but it will help produce more downforce for the road and track. Lars Moravy, VP for vehicle engineering at Tesla, told US media that the car can produce so much downforce that: “When we’re accelerating, we can break the laws of tyre physics.”  Hopefully that means they’ll develop newer, stronger, physics-defying tyres. Or else I guess your tyres will be destroyed every time you accelerate too hard.  Tesla’s own disclaimer on the website makes it clear the Rocket version of the Roadster will not be available in all regions and will be “subject to each region's legal requirements and applicable laws”, which means each country will need to decide if it feels kick-flipping cars are something they want on the road.  Musk’s gloating about the car almost sounds like an admission that it will have very limited scope.  “This will be an actual car that's on the roads. I'm not sure it's necessarily legal in all jurisdictions, but there will be such a car that someone can own,” he said.  The Plan B, or perhaps it's actually Plan A, is for a purpose-built test track facility to be built at Tesla’s headquarters in Texas. That would allow those invited to own the Roadster Rocket (because it is ‘invite only’) to have their fun in a private space, leaving the roads for proper cars. Although, once again it demonstrates the cult-like pull of Tesla and its limitation. If the special Texas facility is the only place you can fulfil its full potential, what does that mean for owners who don’t live in Texas? It’s hard to imagine Porsche or Ferrari telling customers they can only drive their expensive supercar in one specific location on Earth. Finally, perhaps the most important element that has been overlooked is that what we saw was not a production car. Nearly a decade after taking US$250,000 deposits for the second generation Roadster, Tesla is still yet to actually fire up the production line. No other car company on the planet, not even Ferrari or Lamborghini, could get away with taking people’s money and not delivering a car for over a decade. Sure, they’ve said it will enter production by 2028, but they’ve said it was going into production in the near-future since 2017. The fact that this car looks nothing like the original 2017 concept is another thing only Tesla can get away with, with its blindly-loyal customers. I do feel like Tesla will eventually put the Roadster into production (although I’d only say I’m 60 per cent confident), but the fact they have focused on the Rocket version and revealed little in the way of details about the Performance and Thrust variants that people will actually be able to buy is yet another red flag. While the attention-seeking unveiling of the Roadster did what it set out to do, making headlines and distracting from the massive delays, ultimately this is a car that answers questions nobody asked. People were happy with the idea of a second-generation Roadster that wasn’t based on a Lotus Elise and felt like it was built in an industrial estate by hand (which is very much what the first generation Roadster felt like). Instead, in what has become his calling card, Musk has pushed Tesla into unchartered territory for the car industry - for better or worse. I hope I’m wrong, but it feels inevitable that we’ll be writing about the first death of a Roadster driver not long after it enters production - whenever that may be. I loved watching Back to the Future II and day-dreaming of a flying car as much as the next kid, but when I grew up I realised the pure impracticality of flying cars and the dangers they create. There’s a reason why getting your pilot’s licence takes a lot longer than getting your driver’s licence.  This feels like the automotive equivalent of Google Glasses or Apple Vision Pro, technology designed by billionaires in Silicon Valley for millionaires in Silicon Valley (or, in this case, Texas) and that makes it as dumb as it is dangerous. But, after all this, if you’re still looking to buy a Tesla Roadster so you can jump over traffic or drive up walls, don’t spend your money yet because I have some magic beans to sell you…

Leapmotor is looking to expand its appeal in Australia, with its latest addition being the all-new B05 hatchback. This is a more European-focused model than its previous Chinese-centric SUVs, which is why development was shared with the European-based engineers from Stellantis. But Leapmotor has already earned a reputation for sharp prices and the B05 is no different. The entry-level B05 Style starts at $35,990 drive-away. For that price you receive the essentials, but not much in the way of luxuries. B05 Style standard equipment: 19-inch alloy wheels LED headlights  8.8-inch digital driver display 14.6-inch multimedia touchscreen Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Satellite Navigation Wireless phone charger NFC & Bluetooth key While the B05 was very much driven by the European side of the Leapmotor International operation because of its preference for hatchbacks, there’s no doubt it has a distinctive family look to sit nicely alongside the B10 and C10 SUVs. The company says it has a ‘coupe silhouette’ and a ‘wide-body stance’ to give it a sporty look, which also helps it cut through the air better and help with the range. While it’s very much a conventional five-door hatch, it does look well proportioned and inoffensive, which is a good place for Leapmotor to find itself in these early days in Australia. Inside, the B05 offers a good level of space and practicality for a hatchback, however, the Style does miss some basic elements, such as a rear armrest, which means no cupholders for those in the back. Technology is clearly a key selling point for Leapmotor, with a lot of its marketing presentation focused on a younger demographic. It certainly has a clean and straightforward interior, but that’s expected from most modern cars, but in particular the Chinese. There are almost no buttons or switchgear, which means a not particularly intuitive or user-friendly operating experience. The B05 Style is powered by a 160kW and 240Nm electric motor which, unlike most hatches these days, drives the rear wheels. The Style features a 56.2kWh lithium phosphate battery (LFP) which provides up to 410km of driving range, according to the WLTP test cycle. In terms of safety, Leapmotor has included all the necessary features to score a five-star ANCAP rating. However, the brand still needs to better integrate and calibrate the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to ensure they do not irritate the driver.

Leapmotor has taken its next leap forward with the arrival of its first hatchback - the B05. It brings more European handling and practicality, at a Chinese price. But there are still key areas it needs to improve in to become a more popular choice for Australian buyers.

“This is my personal belief. I don’t think all Chinese brands will survive… We've seen that in the past. As history tells us, we'll get a proliferation, and then people start merging because the volume is just not there, and efficiency isn't there.” That’s a widely held belief within the car industry, but it’s unusual to hear it directly from the mouth of a Chinese car brand executive. Specifically, it’s Andy Hoang, head of Leapmotor, the joint-venture with US-European giant Stellantis. But that partnership hasn’t led to an initial surge of sales, and Hoang’s admissions about the unsustainability of the Chinese brands is particularly striking when you consider Leapmotor is currently only the 40th best-selling brand in Australia, with just 1168 sales year-to-date to the end of September. Only Foton, Deepal, JAC, Farizon and the brand-new Forthing are the Chinese brands selling less than Leapmotor. But Hoang is, unsurprisingly, confident that Leapmotor has what it takes to not only survive, but grow and thrive in the Australian market. “If you just look at the base that we're going off, we've got one of the fastest growing brands in China, one of the fastest growing brands in Europe,” he said.“We know that from a product standpoint, the product stacks up and what we want customers to do is to compare every brand on its own merits. “You compare the product. What are the things you normally look for? You look for price, you look for features, you look for value, you look for safety, you look for independent reviews, you look at past success. “To us, when customers do that, we know Leapmotor will come out .” Leapmotor’s first car only rolled off the production line in 2019, so it formed a joint-venture with Stellantis to help accelerate its growth and knowledge. Stellantis owns 14 brands, including Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Peugeot, Jeep, Dodge and Opel, and it was this side of the operation that led the development of the all-new B05 hatch for the brand. But despite the long history of these brands in Australia, don’t expect to see Hoang and the Leapmotor team try to leverage the connection when trying to woo customers. “Look, the reality is that Stellantis itself doesn't have as big awareness here in Australia as it does in Europe, right? The strength in Europe is, you ask every second person and they know who Stellantis is, with a network of thousands of dealerships,” he says. “We don't have that here in Australia and if anything the customers that do know Stellantis here probably haven't had the best experience with some of the brands under our umbrella. So it kinda works both ways from that perspective.” BYD is the best-selling Chinese brand in Australia at the time of publication, year-to-date to the end of September. It has sold 76,614, GWM is next with 44,959 with Chery selling 38,022 and MG the final Chinese brand in the top 10 sellers with 36,832 sales.

For over a decade we’ve been told the sedan is dying. Sales have declined, the amount of options available has dwindled and buyers continue to gravitate to SUVs and utes. And yet, the sedan survives. But not just survive, new models are now arriving and sales for the total mid-size sedan market have been on the rise in 2026. Mid-size sedans, both mainstream and luxury, are up 18 per cent year-to-date to the end of September. Geely is the latest brand to believe there is a future for sedans, confirming the new Emgrand L plug-in hybrid will arrive in Australian showrooms next year to compete against the likes of the Tesla Model 3, BYD Seal and Mazda 6e. Despite the relatively-fresh competition and the recent sales growth, sedan sales are still amongst the smallest in the country. The best-selling sedan is the Toyota Camry, with 9471 sales to the end of September, which compares to 31,209 sales for the Toyota RAV4 mid-size SUV. Geely Australia’s Director of Product Planning and Marketing, Andrew Tuitahi, said the brand is confident there will be buyers looking for an SUV alternative. “When it comes to Emgrand L EM-i that's designed to target a slightly different market, but we think there is an opportunity for a more traditionally styled sedan with high technology and alternate fuel offerings,” Tuitahi said. “There's a lot of metrics and a lot of research that we've conducted,” he added. “Certainly the response from customers is positive. The response from dealers is positive. And there are absolutely buyers who don't want to drive an SUV. They want something that looks a little bit more conventional, and they like that style of sedan.”  “ I think we'll put together a package and share it when we launch Emgrand. But certainly there is a buyer profile demographic that is finding sedans appealing,” he said. Looking at the latest sales figures there is a growing market for electric and plug-in hybrid sedans, led by the likes of the Tesla Model 3, BYD Seal and Seal 6 as well as the new Mazda 6e. All of those models have grown in volume in the first three quarters of 2026, although the Seal 6 and Mazda and both all-new models, so any sales would be incremental volume. While they have grown, that is from a small base and overall sales remain relatively small. Tesla has sold 5775 examples of the Model 3, which is a seven per cent increase on 2025, but that figure is dwarfed by the combined 35,930 sales of the Model Y and Y L. BYD has sold a combined 4727 Seal EV and Seal 6 PHEV sedans (and wagons), which does mean that two of the three best-selling sedans are electric, suggesting there is a demand from customers for efficient vehicles outside of the SUV market. However, it isn’t a large demand with the rest of the market contributing a combined 27,805 total mid-size sales, which is less than the RAV4 has managed on its own - just to underscore the dominance of SUVs. Kia’s EV4 has managed just 361 sales, the Skoda Octavia 340 and the MG MG7 only 230. Even the once popular premium sedans, including the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Class are down significantly in 2026. So, while Geely is confident there are buyers for the Emgrand L, and Tesla, BYD and Mazda are managing to make sedans work for them, the cold, hard fact remains that the traditional ‘four-door’ is unlikely to become a mainstream choice again for Australians. Sedans aren’t dead yet, but anyone expecting a resurgence shouldn’t be.

Fast-rising Chinese brand Geely has a secret weapon in its plans for local success. Australia’s unique road conditions and our particular taste in vehicles has always presented a challenge for international brands. It’s one of the reasons why Holden and Ford were dominant for decades and it’s why the likes of Hyundai and Kia invested millions in their own local ride and handling testing programs. GWM recently announced it had hired former Holden engineer Rob Trubiani to lead a local engineering program to make its cars more ‘Australia specific’. But despite all this, Geely’s management doesn’t believe there is a need for a similar investment of engineering and other resources to make its vehicles more suited to Australia’s specific roads and drivers. According to Andrew Tuitahi, Geely Australia’s Director of Product Planning and Marketing, the brand can instead call on the engineering experience and expertise of fellow Geely-owned brands, such as Lotus and Volvo. “ Certainly when we look at Geely Holding Group relative to some of the other Chinese brands I think we're in a unique position,” Tuitahi told CarsGuide. “Under our umbrella we carry a lot of European brands that are well-renowned for various disciplines, whether that be safety with Volvo or things like ride, handling dynamics with Lotus. And so I think we can lean more heavily on talent and know-how across our group rather than trying to focus it here in Australia. “That's not saying that programs wouldn't take place here, but certainly I think a lot of that engineering excellence could be deployed here and in other parts of the world to deliver a product that will perform well in Australia, and it wouldn't need to be done by personnel on ground employed here.” In addition to Volvo and Lotus, Geely Group owns, or has a significant stake in, Polestar, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Smart and Aston Martin. CarsGuide understands that no Lotus or Volvo engineers have worked directly on the current Geely range offered in Australia - the EX2, EX5 and Starray - but Tuitahi has left the door open for future opportunities. But the local offerings are sold in Australia with a more European-engineer steering and suspension set-up, which is firmer and more direct than what is offered in the Chinese domestic market models. Tuitahi indicated that Geely Australia has made it clear to management that the ‘European tune’ is better suited for local tastes. After a slow and deliberate start in Australia, Geely is planning a significant model expansion, with up to six new models due in the next 12 months. This will include the Battleship 700 (name subject to change) off-roader, Monjaro large SUV and the Emgrand L mid-size sedan.

The recent Everything Electric show in Sydney provided an unintentional visual metaphor for the Australian car industry - and one brand in particular. Tucked away behind two towering, no-expense-spared Zeekr and Geely stands was a much more modest Subaru showcase. The Japanese brand had its electric range on display, the Trailseeker, Solterra and the new Uncharted, but many people I spoke to at the show didn’t even know that Subaru was there. And that feels very much like what is going on with the brand itself, the former favourite of so many Australians is now at risk of fading into the crowd and if that happens there is no guarantee for its long-term future here. Which would be sad not only for fans of the Forester, Outback and co. but also anyone who enjoys good cars. It had been a long-time since I had last driven a Subaru, but recent time in the Trailseeker and Uncharted has me scratching my head why more people aren’t considering them as electric vehicles (EV) sales soar. The Trailseeker starts at $63,990 plus on-road costs, which I concede does not make it an EV bargain by today’s standards. But the high-grade Touring is priced from $69,990, which is just $1090 more than the Tesla Model Y AWD Premium Long Range. The Trailseeker makes 280kW of power, takes just 4.5 seconds to run 0-100km and has 533km of range. By comparison the Model Y has 220kW, takes 5.9 seconds and has 551km of range. So, on paper, the two are closely matched in the key areas. However, the Subaru has a far more functional and intuitive cabin, thanks to its button-filled, traditional car design ethos. To be fair, the Tesla is a much younger, more tech-savvy company, but it takes its cost-saving-disguised-as-minimalism design approach to a level that just looks cheap to me. Maybe this is a sign I’m getting old, but the Trailseeker is a much more user-friendly car to drive, and for older buyers, those with $70k to spend on an EV, it makes a lot of sense. It also just drives nicer than the Model Y. The Trailseeker is a joint-venture between Subaru and Toyota, two companies with decades of experience developing, engineering and fine-tuning cars. The Model Y is only the fifth car Tesla has made - ever. That is painfully obvious when you drive the two on the road. The Subaru is quieter, with better insulation from both the outside world and the mechanical sounds of the car. It is also more composed and pleasant to drive, with nicely tuned steering and a comfortable, controlled ride than the Model Y simply doesn’t match, in my opinion. The problem for Subaru (and so many other legacy brands) is Tesla is the ‘Esky of EVs’, with the brand seemingly the default choice for so many buyers when they go looking for an electric car. Sales of the Model Y have been huge this year, and while it has many good attributes and I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t buy them, it’s surprising just how far away the Trailseeker is in terms of sales. Subaru has sold 517 Trailseeker since it went on sale in June, which is an average of 129 per month, while Tesla is selling an average of 3166 Model Y per month. So while they may be similar on paper and the Subaru has an edge on the road, where it really counts - sales - the Model Y is leaving the Trailseeker eating its dust. This is very-much indicative of the wider challenge Subaru is facing, as it is getting overwhelmed not only by Tesla but also the influx of Chinese brands that can offer either something equivalent or something for even less money. Subaru sales are down 29 per cent, despite having a relatively fresh line-up, with the new Forester arriving just last year and the Outback earlier this year. The Forester, Crosstrek and Outback remain the brand’s three most popular models, but all three are down dramatically in 2026. As I have written previously, Subaru’s decision to evolve the Outback from a more-conventional wagon to a line-blurring wagon/SUV is a calculated risk. Unfortunately it appears to be a risk that it is not paying off, with Outback sales down 42 per cent in 2026. The compounding problem is, while these traditional petrol and hybrid models are struggling, the brand’s new electric options aren’t filling the gaps. The Solterra, Trailseeker and the Uncharted are all appealing cars in their own way, but obviously Subaru has not made a compelling case to Australian buyers yet. The challenge for the brand is to turn this around and get the attention onto its EV options to try and, if not compete against the likes of Tesla in pure volume, not get overshadowed by Geely and Zeekr like it did at the Everything Electric show. Subaru still sells more cars than Zeekr and is only a few thousand sales behind Geely, at the time of publication, so it’s not too late to turn it around. But getting more attention for its appealing electric options should be a priority if Subaru doesn’t want to fade into obscurity.