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).

Will Ford's future hot hatches be electric?

By Stephen Ottley · 01 Oct 2022

Ford Australia’s decision to drop the Focus and Fiesta ST hot hatches seemingly brought the carmaker's hot hatch era to a close. But the global head of Ford Performance believes there is still a future for the small performance cars, albeit in electric form.

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Ford F-150 Lightning 2023 review

By Stephen Ottley · 30 Sep 2022

The F-150 EcoBoost is coming to Australia in 2023 - but the electric version is the one we should really be hoping for.

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Ford's local team to live on

By Stephen Ottley · 30 Sep 2022

Ford’s top management in Detroit has given the Victorian-based design and engineering team behind the Ranger and Everest a ringing endorsement and confirmed their short-term future is secure, despite reports to the contrary.

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Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 2023 review

By Stephen Ottley · 30 Sep 2022

Luxury car buyers have evolved and that has forced Mercedes-Benz to reinvent its flagship for this new era of customers.

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Ford: ‘eFuels can become mainstream’

By Stephen Ottley · 29 Sep 2022

Until now the most vocal car brands supporting synthetic fuel development have been Porsche and Lamborghini, but now Ford has thrown its weight behind the cause.

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Ford Mustang Mach-E 2023 review

By Stephen Ottley · 28 Sep 2022

Does the Ford Mustang Mach-E live up to the pony car legend? We went to Detroit to drive it and find out.

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The two brands leading the EV van race

By Stephen Ottley · 27 Sep 2022

Ford is counting on its commercial vans - the incoming E-Transit and E-Transit Custom - to lead its electric charge, but the Blue Oval is set to be beaten to market by the three-pointed star.

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Ford committed to RHD

By Stephen Ottley · 26 Sep 2022

The future of right-hand-drive production for some of Ford's most exciting models rests firmly on the shoulders of the incoming F-150.

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A more hardcore Mustang in the works

By Stephen Ottley · 25 Sep 2022

Ford President and CEO Jim Farley was in such a good mood at the reveal of the new seventh-generation Mustang he began teasing the company’s next special edition.

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Cheap EVs? Yes, please!

By Stephen Ottley · 25 Sep 2022

MG hailed the recent return of its ZS EV under the headline of “Australia’s most affordable EV” - but even at $44,990 drive-away, the Chinese small SUV can hardly be considered a ‘cheap’ car.

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