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).

Land Rover’s new Defender is proving popular

By Stephen Ottley · 30 Sep 2021

Car companies are typically very good at estimating demand for models, especially long-running nameplates. But that’s not the case for the Land Rover Defender – its popularity is a mystery to the British brand in Australia.

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Range Rover Sport supply running low

By Stephen Ottley · 29 Sep 2021

The Range Rover Sport is enjoying a good year, but the good times look set to come to an end.While all carmakers were hit by supply problems during 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the British brand was particularly impacted due to the early lockdown

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Hyundai Staria 2022 review

By Stephen Ottley · 28 Sep 2021

The Hyundai Staria is the replacement for the iMax people mover van. As with the old model, there's a commercial van spin-off, so it's not quite the same as a 'purpose-made' people-mover like the Honda Odyssey or Kia Carnival, and is more like a Toyota Granvia or VW Multivan. But with advanced tech, all-wheel drive availability, eight seats standard and strong pricing, is this bus a hit or a miss

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How the 2022 Ford Ranger is shaping up

By Stephen Ottley · 26 Sep 2021

The Toyota HiLux has been Australia’s best-selling new vehicle for the past five years, but with the all-new Ford Ranger just around the corner we could get a new favourite.

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How the 2022 LC300 stacks up

By Stephen Ottley · 26 Sep 2021

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know the all-new Toyota LandCruiser LC300 is coming soon.

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We’re being too hard on new sports cars

By Stephen Ottley · 25 Sep 2021

There's been a recent trend that concerns me. When Subaru took covers off the long-awaited new WRX it was criticised for being underwhelming.

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Why Toyota’s HiLux will remain on top

By Stephen Ottley · 24 Sep 2021

The arrival of the new-generation Ford Ranger has the ute-loving population of Australia excited.

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How the Subaru BRZ stacks up against rivals

By Stephen Ottley · 23 Sep 2021

Subaru will be looking to steal the spotlight from Toyota with the arrival of the new-generation BRZ later this year.

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Lexus' important NX to launch soon

By Stephen Ottley · 22 Sep 2021

Lexus has spent the better part of three decades trying to take the fight to the German luxury giants – Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz – and now has its best chance to beat them in a straight contest.

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Kia's high hopes for Sportage

By Stephen Ottley · 19 Sep 2021

Kia Australia acknowledges that the bold look of the new 2022 Sportage is a polarising proposition -but it also believes it will be a sales hit for two particular reasons.Speaking to CarsGuide, Kia's local product planning boss, Roland Rivero, said he bel

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