Renault Megane E-Tech 2024 News

I feel like 2024 was the eye of the storm. It’s the year, which sits between a big surge of electrification, yet before our market will be hit with a big shake-up with at least 12 new manufacturers entering the fray in 2025.

We're lucky, us car journalists. We get to drive oodles of exciting new cars throughout the year — sometimes so many you start to forget your favourites — so making this list was a nice walk down medium-term memory loss lane.

There are a handful of new-car bargain gems out there, with a combination of design, packaging, engineering, performance, economy and quality that belie their affordable pricing. We name our top seven picks.

Renault has learned a valuable truth about electric cars ... they're too expensive. The French maker slashed $10,000 off the price of its new Megane E-Tech electric SUV in May to $54,990 (before on-road costs), only months after the car was launched in Australia.