Vehicles just like the Subaru Forester, Nissan X-Path, and Volkswagen Golf are definitely huge elements of why their respective manufacturers are profitable, however there’s extra to their respective producers than these in style fashions.
As we did a number of weeks in the past, we’re evaluating the primary vehicles to be offered in Australia by a number of in style producers with their latest nameplates.
We’ve included solely the latest nameplates to be provided in Australia by every of those firms, although current nameplates might have subsequently obtained new powertrains and variants.
That is the second instalment in a characteristic sequence. You’ll be able to learn Half 1 right here.
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Subaru: 360, Solterra
Subaru bought its begin in Australia by non-public imports, as many different manufacturers did. A used-car supplier in Ballarat, Victoria, reportedly imported round 73 examples of the Subaru 360 in 1961, making it the primary Subaru offered domestically.
Weighing simply 450kg and powered by a 356cc two-cylinder engine, the 360 was mechanically compliant with Japan’s Kei automobile laws, and its bubbly styling earned it the “ladybug” nickname. This helped make it immensely in style in its house market as manufacturers sought to motorise Japanese residents post-war.
However in Australia and different abroad markets, the 360 was poorly obtained. This was significantly notable in the US, the place businessman Malcolm Bricklin imported 10,000 examples, just for the automobile to be criticised for security considerations and a scarcity of energy, resulting in its rejection by the general public.
In the meantime, overheating points plagued the earliest Australian examples, presumably attributable to our hotter local weather and higher-speed driving calls for. Whereas a later replace finally remedied the issue, the dealership ceased additional imports amid unsustainable losses attributable to the 360.
Thoughts you, this and subsequent fashions just like the Leone (1973) contributed to Subaru’s repute as a reasonably unremarkable, uninspiring automobile model all through the Seventies and 80s, although the Japanese automaker did have a novel promoting level in its four-wheel drive fashions.
Subaru tried to shift its relatively staid repute with the introduction of sportier fashions just like the XT (1985) and SVX (1993), although these have been largely unsuccessful. It arguably wasn’t till the Impreza WRX launched in 1994 that Subaru really vaulted into the general public eye, with the turbocharged, rally-derived sedan now one in all Subaru’s longest-running nameplates.
A number of different vehicles, just like the Forester, Outback, and efficiency Impreza WRX STI, adopted, cementing the model as a family identify within the Australian market. Although not at all times a top-seller, Subaru constantly locations on the fringes of the highest 10, however Chinese language challengers specifically have shaken issues up.
Subaru’s latest mannequin is meant to tackle a lot of these new rivals, but it surely hasn’t been in style to date. That’s the Solterra, the model’s first totally electrical car – and a twin to the Toyota bZ4X – that launched in November 2023.
It’s at present Subaru’s slowest-selling native mannequin, however orders are actually open for a considerably up to date model that brings revised seems to be, extra energy, extra vary, and improved tech, all at a a lot cheaper price than earlier than.
MORE: Discover the Subaru showroom
Chery: J1 and J11, Tiggo 9
This record’s youngest model is Chery, although in 15 years it’s discovered the time to take two bites of the Australian cherry. Its first stab was in 2011, when it launched with the J1 mild hatch and J11 SUV.
Distributed independently by Ateco, which is now chargeable for manufacturers like Renault and Ram, Chery’s first two vehicles (and the J3 small hatch that shortly adopted) rapidly fell afoul of presidency laws mandating digital stability management.
Whereas this initially barred the model from Victoria, the federal implementation of those laws compelled the model to discontinue the J1. That wasn’t earlier than its value was slashed to an astonishing $9990 drive-away, making it one of many solely sub-$10,000 drive-away vehicles offered post-2000.
The opposite subject these vehicles confronted was security. A 3-star ANCAP ranking for the J1 prompted Chery to recall the mannequin and tackle the structural integrity of its seats, whereas the J11 might solely handle two stars.
Later updates to the J3 and J11 introduced new engines and digital stability management, however a scarcity of manufacturing facility help from Chery quickly noticed the model’s Australian operation wither away by 2015.
Chery’s second and present Australian effort kicked off in 2023, this time with full manufacturing facility backing from its Chinese language head workplace. In March 2023 it re-launched with the Omoda 5 SUV (now C5), which recorded greater than 5000 deliveries in its first 12 months on sale – rapidly surpassing the 4670 gross sales recorded by Chery as a complete in its first try.
Since then, Chery has skyrocketed to change into a top-15 model in Australia, repeatedly threatening Western stalwarts like Volkswagen and Nissan. It’s even knocking on the door of the highest 10, following on from compatriots BYD, GWM, and MG.
Chery has most lately determined to shake up its model positioning. The Omoda Jaecoo model has launched with standalone Omoda and Jaecoo fashions – complicated, we all know – whereas Chery itself has continued to introduce new nameplates.
The newest is the Tiggo 9, a big plug-in hybrid SUV due for an imminent Australian launch.
MORE: Discover the Chery showroom
Nissan: Sort 12 Phaeton, Ariya
The primary Nissan imported to Australia wasn’t known as a Nissan in any respect. As an alternative, and maybe unsurprisingly, it was a Datsun, and particularly the Sort 12 Phaeton in 1934.
In accordance with Nissan, the Sort 12 Phaeton is “the oldest mannequin of Nissan that had been already manufactured in December 1933 when [Nissan Motor Corporation] was established”, making it the oldest mannequin within the model’s heritage assortment.
Coming into manufacturing earlier in 1933, the Sort 12 Phaeton measured in at underneath three metres lengthy and produced simply 9kW of energy. Using ‘Phaeton’ refers to its physique model, because it was a convertible four-seater with a material roof; it’s to not be confused with Volkswagen’s future ultra-luxury Phaeton flagship which sarcastically wasn’t a phaeton in any respect.
It outdated the Sort 11 that launched in 1932, with the one distinction being a bigger engine – such was the tempo of Nissan that the Sort 12 was changed by the Sort 13 in 1934. The Sort 13 was supposedly extra trendy.
Following that, the primary Nissan-badged mannequin, the 70 sedan, broke cowl in 1937.
After shifting focus to construct vehicles, airplanes, and engines for the Japanese navy forward of the Second World Battle, Nissan returned to constructing vehicles. Among the many first vehicles born out of restarted improvement was one thing arguably forward of its time: the Tama, a completely electrical automobile with just below 100km of vary, in-built response to grease shortages.
Whereas not dropped at Australia, the Tama loosely foreshadows Nissan’s latest nameplate. However between then and now, Nissan launched the primary Patrol domestically in 1960 (two years after Toyota launched the rival LandCruiser FJ25), and established Nissan Australia in 1966 with the opening of a producing facility in Sydney.
From 1983, the Datsun identify was phased out, and within the 2000s Nissan Australia largely phased out passenger vehicles in favour of SUVs, with exceptions being the GT-R, 350Z and 370Z sports activities vehicles. It additionally provided the electrical Leaf, which paved the way in which for the model’s latest native nameplate: the Ariya.
The much-delayed electrical SUV was a very long time coming for Australia, given it debuted in 2020. With as much as 504km of driving vary and the choice of all-wheel drive, the Ariya launched in September 2025.
MORE: Discover the Nissan showroom
Volkswagen: Sort 82 “Kübelwagen”, Tayron
The primary Volkswagens in Australia emerged from the Second World Battle. The story goes that whereas combating in North Africa within the early Nineteen Forties, Australian troopers grew to become the primary from our nation to come back into contact with the German Volkswagen.
The German military had elected to make use of the Ferdinand Porsche-designed Kübelwagen as mild transport autos within the area, with a number of examples captured by the Australian troopers and used behind the traces by Australian subject officers. All Kübelwagens have been left within the African desert when Australian forces have been withdrawn in 1943.
Quick ahead to 1946, and the Australian Military imported a wartime Kübelwagen sourced from Wolfsburg (Volkswagen HQ) by the British Military, thus making it the primary Volkswagen in Australia. Remembering its competence throughout the struggle, the Military needed to guage the Kübelwagen in native circumstances for potential Australian use.
That actual Kübelwagen is now a part of the Australian Battle Memorial’s assortment in Canberra. The primary VW passenger autos adopted in 1947, when Australia bought eight vehicles as a part of wartime reparations for £160 every (round A$11,000 right this moment).
Six stayed in Germany, whereas two (a Sort 11 sedan and Sort 51 sedan with Kübelwagen operating gear) have been shipped to Melbourne as prototypes. The primary Volkswagen to be privately imported and owned, nevertheless, was a black, right-hand drive 1946 mannequin, imported in 1951 by a German immigrant.
Volkswagen established an official Australian subsidiary in 1953, with the primary vehicles arriving on the market in November of that 12 months. Tax incentives prompted a shift to native meeting, with the Beetle the primary to see large-scale Australian manufacturing.
1967 even noticed the arrival of the primary Australian-developed VW, the Nation Buggy (resembling the enduring Factor), constructed from Beetle and Kombi parts. Native meeting continued at Clayton, Victoria, till 1976, when Nissan took possession and management of the previous Volkswagen plant.
After a tumultuous Nineteen Eighties, the German model slowly grew to cement its place within the Australian market. Our abridged historical past can’t go with out mentioning the Dieselgate scandal, wherein Volkswagen was caught in 2015 dishonest in emissions testing of a few of its diesel fashions.
However regardless of this, Volkswagen has been a constant top-15 model within the Australian market in recent times. Its newest new nameplate is the Tayron, a seven-seat SUV primarily based on the Tiguan that serves as a direct alternative for the defunct Tiguan Allspace. It launched in September 2025.
