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).

Ban utes? No, make them cleaner

By Stephen Ottley · 16 Apr 2023

‘Utes should be banned in Australia’ - it’s a notion about as popular as disconnecting the internet. But before you fire up in the comments section and bristle at the notion of ‘banning utes’, don’t panic, this isn’t one of those stories.

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The hard truth about Chinese cars

By Stephen Ottley · 10 Apr 2023

To say Australians have embraced Chinese cars is an understatement. In recent years we have bought cars from China in increasingly huge numbers. In 2022 China was the fourth-largest source of cars sold in Australia - behind Japan, Thailand and South Korea - with more than 122,000 examples sold. But five years ago, back in 2017, Chinese-made cars didn’t even feature in the top 15 in sales. In fact

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Why we need to quit our ute addiction

By Stephen Ottley · 09 Apr 2023

Australia needs to quit its obsession with utes. While there’s no question Australian motorists love the likes of the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and co. a new report has highlighted the problem with this obsession. Put simply, Australia is going the wrong way when it comes to fuel use and emissions production compared to the rest of the world.

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These cars need an electric re-birth

By Stephen Ottley · 09 Apr 2023

As Easter is a time for renewal and re-birth, we've looked at some other nameplates we'd love to see not only make a comeback, but do so with an electric powertrain for a long-term future. Some of these may have an element of optimism to them, but there's actually genuine hope that several of these could be in showrooms in the not-too-distant future.

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Why Hyundai could lose the popular i30 hatch

By Stephen Ottley · 26 Mar 2023

The arrival of the new-generation Hyundai Kona brings into focus the uncertainty surrounding its i30 stablemate, with speculation that the hatchback could be discontinued in the near-future.

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Why the world can't go all-electric... yet

By Stephen Ottley · 22 Mar 2023

At first glance the all-new Hyundai Kona Electric bares a strong family resemblance to the brand’s Ioniq 5 and 6 models, so much so it had us wondering why the company didn’t just call it the Ioniq 4.

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Forget the manual gearbox, save the buttons!

By Stephen Ottley · 18 Mar 2023

Car companies have been increasingly using digital screens and soft-touch buttons in modern cars to save costs while looking ‘hi-tech’ - but Hyundai has committed to fight this trend for as long as possible.

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China's Toyota Corolla rival spied in Sydney

By Stephen Ottley · 15 Mar 2023

MG's long-awaited small sedan, the MG5, has finally arrived in Australia more than three years after its global reveal. CarsGuide spotted two examples of the new model in a parking lot near a dealership in Sydney.

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Hyundai takes aim at the Toyota Corolla Cross

By Stephen Ottley · 13 Mar 2023

Hyundai Australia believes the addition of a hybrid powertrain will be the key to the new Kona overtaking the likes of the Mazda CX-30 and Toyota Corolla Cross in the sales race.

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It's not you, cars really are getting bigger

By Stephen Ottley · 12 Mar 2023

Twenty or 30 years ago cars we would have considered large have become even larger, and what was once a small model is seemingly huge. Take for example, the original Holden Commodore VB and the current Toyota Corolla sedan - which is bigger?

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