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Continuing our countdown of the top cars to watch for in 2024.
If you missed kickoff, catch up here with 40 to 31 and 30 to 21.
JUMP AHEAD
- 20. Ssangyong Torres
- 19. Skoda Kodiaq
- 18. Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S
- 17. Skoda Enyaq
- 16. Ford Puma EV
- 15. Porsche 911
- 14. Subaru Forester
- 13. Jeep Avenger
- 12. Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster
- 11. Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
20. Ssangyong Torres
Due: Q2 2024
Model: Torres, Torres EVX
Price: from c.$37,000
SsangYong certainly can't be accused of rushing the Torres to the Australian market.
Its compact SUV has been in production since June 2022, powered by a 125kW 1.5-litre turbo four, but while that model may well be the car Aussie buyers have been waiting for, later on they'll also be treated to the front-drive Torres EVX, a EV powered by a 73.4kWh LFP blade-type battery pack good for a range of 433km.
At 4715mm long, it's much the same size as the Hyundai Kona, Nissan Qashqai and Honda ZR-V. Success or failure is clearly going to come down to pricing.
19. Skoda Kodiaq
Due: H2 2024
Model: Kodiaq
Price: c.$60,000
The second-gen Kodiaq doesn't diverge too far from a winning formula.
The sole version for Australia is powered by the VW Group's venerable EA888 150kW 2.0-litre turbo four mated to a seven-speed dual clutch sending drive to all four wheels.
The seven-seat cabin gets a floating 13-inch infotainment screen, boot size jumps by 70 litres to a claimed 340L, while a column-mounted gear shifter frees up space. A new damping system (DCC) allows for individual tailoring of bump and rebound damping.
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18. Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S
Due: Q2 2024
Model: E Performance PHEV
Price: from c.$210,000
Benz’s bruising high-performance GLC variant is due in Q2 and it’s binned the twin-turbo V8 for a plug-in hybrid powertrain packing 500kW and 1020Nm.
A version of the A45 S hot hatch’s 2.0-litre featuring an electrically assisted turbo contributes 350kW and 545Nm – via a nine-speed multi-clutch automatic – with a further 150kW from an electric motor on the rear axle, to propel the 2310kg wagon to a claimed 3.5sec 0-100km/h.
Chassis hardware is in the same league and includes adaptive suspension, an active anti-roll control system, rear wheel steer, and six-pot front calipers with 390mm composite discs.
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Inside, AMP Performance seats and a sculpted, retro-styled steering wheel are highs, along with an AMG Track Pace lap timing and ‘Supersport’ instruments.
A total of eight driving modes should cover it. A high density, 6.1kWh battery pack featuring individually cooled cells, like the motor- spooled turbo, draws on Formula 1 tech and lets the GLC 63 S E Performance drive 12km as an EV.
So, now you can fly under the radar, which is one of the few things the bent eight couldn’t do.
17. Skoda Enyaq
Due: July 2024
Model: Enyaq Wagon/Coupe 85, Enyaq Wagon/Coupe RS
Price: from c.$80,000
There's a lot of fluff talked about electric cars, most of it based around trying to convince you to pay a hefty premium. Skoda doesn't tend to talk fluff.
The no-nonsense Australian range will feature both updated Enyaq body styles (wagon and coupe) with Skoda recently hinting that it would bring the then-unreleased Enyaq 85 as our base model, with new motors providing 210kW and 576km driving range (Coupe, WLTP).
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Headlining the Australian range will be the all-wheel drive RS model developing 250kW, an improvement of 30kW. It can sprint from rest to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds.
Skoda has improved the charging speed on the Enyaq 85. It'll now accept DC electricity at 175kW for a 10-80 per cent top-up in 28 minutes.
Pricing and final specifications are yet to be finalised beyond the two-variant launch line-up. Skoda Australia previously told Wheels to expect a circa-$80K starting price, putting the Enyaq squarely in the sights of the big-selling Tesla Model Y.
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16. Ford Puma EV
Due: Q4 2024
Model: Puma EV
Price: from c.$48,000
With the Fiesta excised from Ford's line up Down Under, entry-level duties fall on the slimmish shoulders of the Puma light SUV, due for a facelift later in the year.
We'll also see the long-awaited Puma EV, which will borrow the underpinnings and the majority of its running gear with the European market E-Transit Courier compact van. If that is indeed the case, expect a 54kWh battery pack that drives an electric motor on the front axle, and it will support 100kW DC charging.
The Romanian-built EV is expected to adopt much the same blanked-off front end aesthetic as the Mustang Mach-E with a more recognisable carry-over rear treatment. It pitches into a market heavy with rivals, with the Hyundai Kona Electric, BYD Atto 3 and MG ZS EV all sure to provide stern opposition.
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15. Porsche 911
Due: Q2 2024
Model: 992.2 Carrera
Price: from c.$285,000
We don't normally get too excited about mid-life facelifts, bit when the car in question is the Porsche 911, we're all over every sniff of news.
Spy photographers have been snapping the update to the 992 generation of 911 for more than two years, but only very recently have undisguised versions been seen near a certain one-way derestricted toll road.
It's no great secret that the 992 was designed from the outset to integrate a hybrid powertrain. The 992.2 Carrera looks set to include mild-hybrid electrification with the battery nestled between the boxer engine and the rear seats bulkhead and the motor-generator between the engine and the eight-speed PDK transmission.
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The Taycan sedan provides the inspiration for a full cabin refresh, with the 911 set to follow the lead of the recently revised Cayenne in adopting a full glass cockpit, dash-mounted gear selector and a redesigned centre console.
The projected lifespan of the 992.2 is projected to run through to 2028 and will include a full performance hybrid version of the GT2 RS (due in 2026) that could see peak boosted power outputs in the region of 600kW. Porsche has also been seen testing the 992.2 version of the GT3, which is expected to feature a normally-aspirated 4.2-litre engine and will launch in 2025.
In the meantime, Porsche's quandary is how to satisfy traditionalists while still getting past the watchful eye of Euro 7 emissions regulations. Nobody said it would be easy.
14. Subaru Forester
Due: H2 2024
Model: Forester
Price: from c.$42,000
When is a new car not a new car?
While Subaru claims that its next-gen Forester, revealed at the LA Auto Show in November, is an “all-new fully redesigned vehicle”, dig a little deeper and it's apparent that it rides on much the same Global Platform underpinnings with the familiar 2.5-litre boxer engine up front.
That said, neither of those two constituents were any great cause for complaint in the current car. What the Forester needed was a more stylish interior and exterior treatment and a hybrid powertrain that didn't feel like a token effort. On those counts, the new model looks to be off to a good start.
The styling nicely fuses the latter-day SUV style of the Forester with the squared-off boxy arches of its wagon forebear.
Inside, the Forester is aligned with the Outback, WRX and Crosstrek, featuring an available 11.6-inch portrait-oriented infotainment system, fewer physical controls, USB-C charge ports, a wireless phone charger, and ventilated front seats. However, unlike the Japanese-spec WRX and Outback, it does not feature a full-digital instrument cluster, with a small central driver information display flanked by analogue dials.
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Under the bonnet, the existing 2.5-litre petrol flat-four produces 134kW and 241Nm, down 2kW but up 2Nm.
It remains paired with a “smoother and quieter” continuously-variable automatic transmission (CVT). Subaru has fitted a version of the WRX’s dual-pinion electronic steering rack, torsional rigidity is up 10 per cent.
A hybrid Forester will debut for model year 2026. This will be followed by turbo-petrol Forester XT – expected to share the Outback’s 183kW/350Nm 2.4-litre turbo – and off-road-focused Forester Wilderness variants.
The Subaru Forester is due in American showrooms between March and May 2024. Local details – including official timing, pricing and features – will be confirmed closer to its local launch, which is expected later in the year.
13. Jeep Avenger
Due: H2 2024
Model: TBA
Price: from c.$45,000
Jeep’s first EV in Australia, battery-powered baby the 2024 Avenger, is due in the second half of the year.
The brand is calling for expressions of interest for the model, which is confirmed as an electric vehicle but likely won’t make it in ICE form, because the petrol versions offered in Europe are manual only.
Jeep is yet to announce pricing or specifications for the Avenger which, as a product of the Stellantis Group, will be built on a Peugeot platform and call Alfa’s forthcoming small SUV and the Fiat 600 its brothers from other mothers.
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With a 115kW, 260Nm electric motor driving the front wheels, a 54kWh battery pack providing a 400km range (WLTP), and the capability for fast charging from 20 to 80 per cent in 24 minutes on a 100kW charger, the 4080mm-long Avenger has the makings of a right-sized EV for city-based buyers.
Avenger’s scaled-down butch, and a cabin headlined by large multimedia touchscreen and digital instrument displays, and featuring extensive active safety, could seal the deal.
The company will certainly be hoping so, after a year in which the number of Aussies who bought a Jeep plunged to new lows.
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12. Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster
Due: Q1 2024
Model: Quartermaster
Price: from c.$110,000
The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster – the dual-cab ute variant of the Grenadier 4WD wagon – is set to arrive Down Under in the first half of 2024 to give frustrated Landcruiser 70 Series buyers and Defender 110 fans something to get excited about.
Built by Ineos Automotive, which was born out of British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s desire to build a replacement for the Land Rover Defender 110 – after Jaguar Land Rover rejected his proposal to buy the old tooling – the Grenadier wagon started arriving locally in 2023.
With production of the trayback underway at a French factory that previously turned out Smart Cars, now the wait is almost over for customers who placed orders from mid-last-year for the $110,000 to $123,000 workhorse (excluding on-road costs).
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The Quartermaster offers the same choice of BMW-sourced 3.0-litre turbo inline six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines as the wagon, backed by a ZF eight-speed auto and permanent four-wheel drive.
A substantial 545mm longer than its sibling, the Quartermaster’s ladder frame is topped by a Euro pallet-accommodating 1564mm (L) x 1619mm (W) tray, with payloads of up to 832kg (diesel) and 907kg (petrol), an 800mm wading depth, 264mm of ground clearance, and a robust 3500kg braked towing capacity.
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11. Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Due: January 2024
Model: 5 N
Price: from c.$111,000
The i30 N showed the world Hyundai could engineer a driver’s car. Now, the Ioniq 5 N is on a mission to prove EVs can be entertaining.
Our Korean first drive of the plus-sized hi-po hatch suggests it’s up to the task, representing a new paradigm in electric driver’s cars by delivering performance and involvement similar to Porsche’s Taycan – which was benchmarked in the development – at one third the price.
In case you’ve been napping, the Ioniq 5 N’s dual motor, all-wheel drive powertrain produces 448kW and 740Nm – or 478kW in a ‘boost’ mode – crushes the 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds, and can travel 450km on a charge of the 84kWh battery.
Could this be the car that finally dispatches the idea of the EV as a soulless white good?
The five-door weighs 2200kg but doesn’t feel it, reckons our very own Jez Spinks, and embellishes its syrupy electric delivery with conventional cues – such as gear shift jolts and a choice of artificial engine sounds – and possesses a calibre of dynamic capability to make even the staunchest petrolhead smile.
Could this be the car that finally dispatches the idea of the EV as a soulless white good? Here's hoping.
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