Articles by Stephen Ottley

Stephen Ottley

Contributing Journalist

Steve has been obsessed with all things automotive for as long as he can remember. Literally, his earliest memory is of a car. Having amassed an enviable Hot Wheels and Matchbox collection as a kid he moved into the world of real cars with an Alfa Romeo Alfasud.

Despite that questionable history he carved a successful career for himself, firstly covering motorsport for Auto Action magazine before eventually moving into the automotive publishing world with CarsGuide in 2008. Since then he's worked for every major outlet, having work published in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Drive.com.au, Street Machine, V8X and F1 Racing.

These days he still loves cars as much as he did as a kid and has an Alfa Romeo Alfasud in the garage (but not the same one as before... that's a long story).

An unknown brand could save Jeep in Australia

By Stephen Ottley · 13 Oct 2024

Can an unknown, all-new car brand help rescue the sales fortunes of one of the world’s biggest car makers in Australia?

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Does Australia have too many car companies?

By Stephen Ottley · 06 Oct 2024

Another week, another new car company joins the Australian market.

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Lotus Emira 2025 review: i4 First Edition

By Stephen Ottley · 05 Oct 2024

Lotus was once Great Britain's answer to Ferrari, but its future is electric. However, it has one more petrol-powered sports car in it - the Emira. We drive this Porsche 718 Cayman rival to find out if it lives up to the legacy of the brand's iconic sports cars while also laying the foundations for the brand's future.

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How big can SUVs get in Australia - literally

By Stephen Ottley · 05 Oct 2024

It’s no secret Australians love SUVs — and the bigger, the better. Big, off-road capable models including the Toyota LandCruiser and Ford Everest are amongst the best-selling models in the country, but the market is in for a shock with the arrival of an all-new contender.

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Are Australians ready for a new kind of ute?

By Stephen Ottley · 01 Oct 2024

The ‘it’ in the question is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute, with this week seeing the confirmation that the BYD Shark 6 will become the first PHEV ute available in Australia starting in October. But it’s likely to be followed relatively quickly by the Ford Ranger PHEV and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV in 2025, giving Australia’s very large ute-buying population a new choice.

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The rising cost of new vehicles exposed

By Stephen Ottley · 28 Sep 2024

A study of prices from September 2019 to September 2024 highlights some key models have risen sharply, but as the strong sales continue it appears customers have accepted the new pricing reality.

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How much would you pay for a Chinese car?

By Stephen Ottley · 23 Sep 2024

MG is preparing launch its $100,000 Cyberster, but fellow Chinese brand GWM won’t be following it into the six-figure market anytime soon.

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New rivals for Toyota's HiLux and LandCruiser

By Stephen Ottley · 12 Sep 2024

GWM is preparing to introduce two new plug-in hybrid models to take on some of the most popular names in the Australian car market.

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Is this the next Tesla Model 3 rival?

By Stephen Ottley · 12 Sep 2024

On paper it should be a no-brainer. The new GWM Ora Sport is a 300kW/680Nm dual-motor electric car ready to take on the likes of the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal in a growing performance EV market.

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Why buying an electric car is a gamble

By Stephen Ottley · 07 Sep 2024

There’s few worse feelings than buying a new car and then finding out it’s now cheaper. Not only do you feel like you’ve been swindled but it only hurts your depreciation even more than normal.

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