1980 Toyota Stout Reviews

Previous reports on the next-generation Toyota Corolla suggested a shrink in body style choices, but the latest news from Japan is just the oppositeCompletely unconfirmed but with some background from inside Japanese carmaking giant Toyota, Japanese outlet BestCar believes there will be an astounding number of versions of the 2026 Toyota Corolla and it might be Toyota that saves the interesting wagon after all. Not only the hatch and sedan, a wagon version is expected and the latest news points to the revival of a lifted Subaru Outback-like wagon — the ‘Carib’ — and a Caldina GT-Four revival. Because neither of those badges have ever come to Australia, a bit of explaining is in order. In the late 1990s and early ’00s, Toyota offered a Carib version of the Corolla that, like Subaru’s Impreza Gravel Cross that morphed into today’s Crosstrek. A new version imagined by BestCar can be seen in yellow. The Caldina was based on a Corolla but was a performance-focused MPV, quite a strange vehicle, but it used the running gear from the Toyota Celica GT-Four sports car, including its turbo-petrol four-cylinder and clever all-wheel drive system. It is the white BestCar render.Why does BestCar suspect these revived names? Apparently, a cryptic email from a Toyota insider came back: “Carib = Caldina = Corolla”, that was all. For driving enthusiasts, the rebirthed Caldina GT-Four is most exciting. BestCar speculates the new model could use the GR Corolla’s 221kW 1.6-litre three-cylinder and torque splitting AWD system. The engine is getting plenty of runs on the board already, also featuring in the GR Yaris and new Lexus LBX Morizo RR. It is also expected to feature in the next GR86 sports car. The Caldina GT-Four is likely to take a closer shape to the Corolla wagon this time around, rather than the original that was a peculiar people mover. A rival to the Skoda Octavia RS, the only other true performance wagon for under $100K. As for the Carib, the much-loved Subaru Outback is soon to take on a more SUV-like form factor. That could leave the door open for Toyota to swoop in with a lifted wagon, but that’s a big stretch in Australia. Like the regular 2026 Corolla range, the new Carib is expected to use Toyota’s new down-sized Euro 7-compliant petrol-electric hybrid engines. In the Corolla’s case, a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre that will cut fuel use by 12 per cent is mooted.  A plug-in hybrid version with over 1000km driving range thanks to a BYD-supplied Blade battery is on the cards, too. Inside, expect a larger touchscreen, revisions to the cabin layout, higher quality digital instrument display and improved connected services. The new Corolla is expected to launch in 2026, around a similar time to Toyota’s new RAV4 and after the HiLux, with the small car battling the Mazda3, recently-updated Volkswagen Golf Mk8.5 and Kia's new Cerato-replacing K4. Whether additional variants like the wagon, Carib and Caldina GT-Four will come to Australia, it seems unlikely. They are not confirmed for production in general. That said, Toyota is on a roll reviving names from its back catalogue right now, including a new LFA, Celica sports car, Starlet minicar, MR2 sports car and mini Landcruiser FJ. There are also plans for new-generation GR86 and Supra sports cars in the works, so it is possible.Let us know in the comments below if you would be interested in one of Toyota’s new takes on the Corolla wagon. 

The Australian new car market is more competitive than ever before and the 2024 sales charts proved exactly that.It doesn't matter whether you're a legacy brand or a new kid on the block, the electric transition has created ample opportunities for carmakers to thrive – and a considerable number did so this year.So, without further ado, here they are...GWM’s rise to a top-ten brand in 2024 caught many by surprise, though people are quick to forget that this has been a long time coming.As the first Chinese car brand to reach Australian shores in 2009, GWM has evolved considerably from its early ute foundations, with its SUV range now comprising the vast majority of its sales.Specifically, the Haval Jolion, which GWM sold 14,238 of last year – a record for the brand for what is Australia’s second-cheapest hybrid car and 10th most popular in December. We knew BYD was coming, but who expected this?The Chinese Tesla-challenger came big in 2024 with a sales uptick of 64.5 per cent, primarily off the back of the fully-electric Seal and plug-in hybrid Sealion 6 models – which sold 6393 and 6198 units, respectively, in their first year.With the Shark 6 ute and Sealion 7 on its way, who knows, by this time next year we could be calling it a top-ten brand.It was another strong year for Ford which maintained the title of Australia's best-selling vehicle with the Ranger ute. It clocked 62,593 sales in total.Second to it, albeit much further behind, was the Ranger-based Everest SUV, which clocked 26,494 sales for the year – a 75.8 per cent increase on last year.Together they accounted for nearly 90 per cent of Ford's sales, which puts them in a precarious position in 2025 with New Vehicle Efficiency Standards and stiff competition from BYD and GWM on the plug-in hybrid ute front.Australia’s love of Mitsubishi clearly isn’t waning despite the brand lacking an EV.Sales of the Outlander SUV, which is offered in plug-in hybrid guise, skyrocketed in 2024, with 27,613 sales making it the second-best selling medium SUV in the country behind the Toyota RAV4.It is also worth noting that the new-gen Triton had a strong year, with sales up a further 7.6 per cent to 14,737 for the year.There are few things Australians love more than a Toyota.  The Japanese powerhouse grew its sales by 26,056 on last year, with the final tally of 241,296 sales exceeding the volume of both second (Ford) and third (Mazda) places combined. A big chunk of that was off the back of the RAV4, which nearly doubled its sales from 29,627 last year to 58,718. Toyota expects that to grow even further in 2025.HiLux sales retracted by 14.2 per cent in 2024 and are likely to do so again in 2025, but it still performed strongly with 53,499 total sales. Expect some of the slack to be picked up by the brand new Prado this year.The South Korean powerhouse continues its march as one of Australia’s best-selling car brands, increasing its slice of the pie by a further 7.4 per cent in 2024 to 81,787 total sales.Leading its sales was the Kia Sportage with 22,210 sales, a 41.0 per cent increase on the previous year.The Cerato and Carnival models weren’t too far behind at 15,502 and 10,080 sales, respectively.Regardless of challenging times for the brand globally, Nissan had a strong year in Australia, clocking up nearly 6000 more sales this year compared to last.Those were greatly helped by the X-Trail, which had a huge 36 per cent increase in sales year-on-year.Though it's far from the most compelling ute in Australia, the Navara continued to sell relatively well, clocking up 10,063 sales for 2024, a 15.5 per cent increase.So apparently selling super-affordable cars during a cost-of-living crisis was a winning ticket, who would’ve thought?Chery shook things up in 2024 with its very affordable range, which doubled in size. The Omoda 5 reigned supreme, growing its sales from 5370 to 6162.It wasn’t without help from the Tiggo 7 Pro (2734) and the brand new Tiggo 4 Pro (1918) and Tiggo 8 Pro (1789) models, though.Suzuki is proving that you don’t necessarily need a brand new line-up to achieve sales success.As the brand’s most popular model, the Jimny (9697 sales), enters its seventh year, it shows no signs of slowing down, with sales up 93.9 per cent from 2023.The same can be said for the Vitara (2456 sales), which enters its 10th year this year with a 45.6 per cent sales increase on last year.Porsche’s strong year was largely off the back of its petrol Macan model, which is now out of production as the brand transitions to an electric-only Macan range.Expect sales to dip strongly next year.The second- and third-most popular models were the Cayenne and 911, which remain strong market favourites with respective sales increases of 15.5 and 40.3 per cent.While recording a modest sales increase, BMW retained its title as Australia’s best-selling premium brand for the second year running.With 26,341 total sales, BMW saw strong results across its very dynamic line-up, which consists of EVs, plug-in hybrids, mild-hybrids, petrol and diesel.Notable models were the electric i4 sedan, which saw a staggering 484.1 per cent increase on last year, along with the new X2, which saw a 565 per cent increase.It sounds big on paper, but the 16.1 per cent increase only equates to 600 sales from 3703 in 2023 to 4303 in 2024.Not to downplay it, though, it's a strong result for Chevrolet which sells its cheapest car in Australia – the Silverado LTZ 1500 premium – for $130,500, before on-road costs.

Looks like the new Toyota HiLux might not be so fresh after all.  Despite hopes that Toyota’s new most popular ute would jump onto the brand’s advanced GA-F platform, it looks like the workhorse will continue in a similar guise to its current shape, following new pictures from Thai outlet Headlight Magazine.

The Ford Ranger has just been crowned the best-selling vehicle in Australia for 2024, but Toyota is already predicting an SUV could claim the prize for the first time this year.

Australia’s top-selling car and the top-selling brands for 2024 have been revealed and it’s been yet another record year of sales.Last year, Australians bought 1,237,287 new vehicles, which represented a modest 1.7 per cent upswing compared with 2023 sales. It was enough to make it the biggest year of sales in Australian history.Utes and SUVs continued to dominate with just one passenger car - the Toyota Corolla - managing to remain in the top 10 best-selling models list.Almost 700,000 SUVs were sold in the calendar year compared with 270,000 light-commercial vehicles and just over 203,000 passenger cars (hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, sports cars and people movers).The top-selling model for 2024 was the Ford Ranger, repeating its 2023 win, despite a slight dip in sales to 62,593 (-1.2%).The Toyota RAV4 had its best sales year and came pretty close to toppling the Ranger, but had to settle for a still-impressive second place with 58,718 units, closely followed by its HiLux stablemate on 53,499.The Isuzu D-Max was the only other ute in the top 10, landing in fourth place with 30,194, and rounding out the top-five models was the Mitsubishi Outlander.Making up the rest of the top-10 models were Ford’s Everest, the Corolla, Mazda CX-5, MG ZS and the Kia Sportage. Check the tables below for all the figures.Toyota maintained its dominance in the industry, leading the charge with 241,296 sales, which is 12.1 per cent ahead of last year’s total.As expected, Ford leapfrogged Mazda to nab second place with a healthy 100,170 units, helped mostly by those solid Ranger and Everest numbers.Mazda dipped a little in 2024 (95,987) but remained well ahead of fourth-placed Kia on 81,787, while Mitsubishi (74,547) capped off the top-five brands.Hyundai (71,664) only just missed out on a top-five position, trailing Mitsubishi by 2883 units.MG also took a sales tumble but still stayed firm with 50,592 (-13.3%) for seventh place, while Isuzu continued to punch above its weight in eighth spot, recording 48,172 sales with just two models on sale.Nissan managed to make some gains in 2024, landing in ninth place with 45,284, and China’s GWM is now firmly a top-10 player having grabbed tenth spot with 42,782.The Chinese giant kept Subaru and Tesla out of the top list, with Subaru collecting 40,604 sales and Tesla sliding by 17 per cent to 38,347.The Model Y also just missed out on a top-10 spot for model sales, with 21,253 finding homes, a drop of 26 per cent.Despite the bumper sales year, the automotive industry’s peak body is forecasting a gloomy outlook and taking a swipe at the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Emissions Standards that kicked in on January 1.“While overall consumer preferences remain clear with SUVs and Light Commercial vehicles continuing to dominate the market and especially the top ten sales, many vehicles in these segments are either difficult or expensive to decarbonise. This will prove to be a significant challenge in meeting the extremely ambitious targets of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) which began on 1 January 2025,” Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Tony Weber said in a media release.“The industry is responding to NVES by increasing the range of zero and low emission vehicles on offer. However, a continuation of current customer buying preferences will inevitably lead to the accrual of substantial penalties under the Government’s new scheme, which will create price inflation within the new vehicle market.”

Diesel is on the way out, but could this year be the one we finally say goodbye to the trusty fuel source of grunty dual-cab utes and rugged four-wheel drives?

What makes a car important? Depending on the brand, important can mean a lot of different things.It could be its profitability or maybe it’s the new technology it will bring or even a new image it could create for a brand.So picking the most important new models from Australia’s biggest brands isn’t always easy, but looking ahead to what’s headed our way in 2025 one common theme emerged - sales.It seems obvious, it’s important that the models each brand offers sell, but in the case of these five there is an extra layer of importance beyond just the volume they will or won’t do.To say the Ranger is important to the success of Ford Australia is an understatement. Sales of the ute account for more than 60 per cent of its total volume, and that’s before factoring in the Everest SUV spin-off.Ford has put a lot of money and resources behind this new plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger, knowing that it needs to cut its fleet emissions as the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) is introduced in 2025.If Ford can get its marketing and sales staff to successfully push the Ranger PHEV it sets the brand up for a bright, lower-emissions future. But if they can’t, it could become a very expensive white elephant for the brand.Toyota hasn’t said too much on the record, but all signs point to a new RAV4 arriving by the end of 2025. The popular SUV usually has a six-year lifespan and the current iteration was launched in 2019, so in theory it’s time is up.What will we see from the new RAV4 - will it be more of the same or a shift upmarket like we’ve seen with the CH-R? The former is far and away the most likely, although don’t be surprised if inflation drives the price up slightly, as the RAV4 has become the brand’s bedrock passenger vehicle.There is a possibility it will follow the Camry and go for an all-hybrid line-up, but that would undoubtedly drive the entry-price up and Toyota is probably hesitant to do that if it can be avoided. It should have enough hybrids to help offset its HiLux and LandCruiser sales under NVES.Why is a small car so important in 2025? Especially when Kia is set to launch its all-new Tasman ute? Well, because of sales.The K4 is the replacement for the Cerato which, despite all the hype around SUVs and utes, is still Kia Australia’s second best-selling model (behind the Sportage SUV, of course). If the more polished-looking K4 carries a significant price rise, though, that could dent its market appeal and leave Kia with a sudden drop in its overall volume.Small cars like the Cerato and Toyota Corolla still do decent volumes, in large part because they are affordable and appeal to a sizeable number of people that don’t want a bigger car. Pricing the K4 right will be the most important challenge for Kia Australia in 2025, regardless of what happens with the Tasman.This new baby of the Hyundai family is due in the early months of 2025 and will bring with it a lot of expectations and new hope. While we’re still waiting for official details (at the time of publication) the speculation is it will carry a sub-$40k price tag. That would be a big deal for Hyundai in its fight against the influx of affordable electric small cars from China - such as the GWM Ora, BYD Dolphin and MG4.But more than that, the Inster needs to draw a younger audience to Hyundai. The brand has deliberately ditched its ‘cheap and cheerful’ image for a more premium range. But there’s no doubt many current Tucson, Santa Fe and Staria drivers probably had an Excel or Accent in their past.The Inster is unapologetically youth-targeted, so if it can be priced right it could be critical in reviving Hyundai’s chances with a fresh audience for years to come.The Chinese brand may be proudly celebrating its improved new generation of vehicles, including the recently launched ZS Hybrid+, but the reality is its volume aspirations are tied to affordability. Which is where the rest of the ZS will play such a crucial role when it arrives in early 2025.While the hybrid offers a good value package, its mid-$30k price range is a big step up from the sub-$25k entry-level ZS of old. Introducing at least two (but preferably three) sub-$30,000 models will be crucial to maintaining the ZS as the best-selling small SUV in the country.

Crosshairs are currently rumoured to be set upon one of Toyota’s iconic models, a 4X4 that’s recently had its line-up culled much to the dismay of traditionalists - the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, or LC70.

It’s no secret times are tough. The cost of living is sky high and cars don’t seem to be getting any cheaper. 

Australia has a very, very competitive new car market.  Our total new car sales each year is dwarfed by other nations around the world, but there are only a handful of countries where there’s as much choice for new car buyers as here.