Top 10 new cars we wish were sold in Australia

Australia is the lucky country when it comes to our choice of new cars, with more than 60 brands and 500 models competing for 1.1 million sales each year.

Compare that to the US where there are fewer than 40 car giants competing for more than 15 million sales annually.

Despite the smorgasbord of new motor vehicles available locally, Australia still misses out on certain models that have been developed for North America or other markets.

Unfortunately, Australia doesn’t get access to everything because the investment to engineer right-hand-drive vehicles costs the same as the investment for left-hand-drive vehicles.

However, right-hand-drive cars only represent about a quarter of vehicles sold globally. 

Beyond that, Australia represents only 1 per cent of the world's automotive sales, which means securing new cars for our market is especially challenging unless they can be sold in sufficient numbers in other right-hand-drive regions.

Those road blocks aside, here in no particular order is our list of new cars sold overseas that we reckon would be a home run in local showrooms – and which could be a chance with a little extra effort from the car companies involved.

It looks like someone shrunk the Ford Ranger but the Ford Maverick is almost as big as its bigger brother, and in fact has a roomier and more practical cabin.

It can’t go as far off-road as a Ford Ranger – nor can it tow or carry as much – but its turbo four-cylinder petrol engine is perky and economical, and the Ford Maverick is more car-like to drive, especially in suburbia.

It would suit buyers who want double-cab ute practicality but prefer a more comfortable driving experience.

It’s based on the stretched underpinnings of a Ford Focus hatch and Ford Escape SUV – which are made in left- and right-hand-drive, so the platform is ambidextrous. Read our review of the Ford Maverick here. 

Sadly, the Ford Maverick was considered but ruled out for right-hand-drive. It’s a smash hit in the US so it could be a long time before Ford revisits a right-hand-drive version for our market.

This is Ford’s answer to the Jeep Wrangler and shares its DNA with the Australian-developed (but Thailand-built) Ford Ranger ute.

Even though Ford Australia has the knowhow to build the Bronco in right-hand-drive – the chassis it is based on is ambidextrous – the business case is yet to add up.

Jeep sells about 1000 to 1500 Wranglers in Australia each year, but Ford reckons that’s not enough to mount a business case for a factory-built right-hand-drive Ford Bronco.

However, Ford Australia – and Detroit head office – have left the door open for a local conversion program if the upcoming local remanufacturing of the right-hand-drive F-150 goes smoothly and is a sales success.

Towing a heavy load or carrying a tonne will blunt driving range. But driven empty, the Ford F-150 Lightning is epic. It’s one of the most remarkable vehicles we’ve tested in the past year or so. Read our review here.

It does 0 to 100km/h in less than 5 seconds and is smooth as a Ranger Rover (or a Rolls-Royce) over bumps.

As with the right-hand-drive Ford Bronco’s chances, Ford Australia – and Detroit head office – have left the door open for the Lightning if the upcoming local remanufacturing of the right-hand-drive F-150 goes smoothly.

The US-built Toyota Kluger seven-seat SUV is effectively Toyota’s family-freighter in Australia.

Local buyers prefer SUV looks over van-like people movers. And the Toyota Hiace van-based Granvia is too expensive and too cumbersome for the target market, hence its weak sales.

The Toyota Sienna sold in the US shares its DNA – and underpinnings – with the Toyota Kluger but has the practicality of the Kia Carnival.

We sampled a Toyota Sienna Hybrid when we rented one in the US earlier this year. The fuel economy was impressive (5.0L/100km).

So, please, Toyota, given your US manufacturing team has already accommodated a right-hand-drive Kluger for our market, any chance we can add a right-hand-drive Toyota Sienna to the list?

It’s a truly modern-day Toyota Tarago and we reckon it would be hit with Australian families who don’t want or need an SUV.

It turns out Drive isn’t alone in hoping the Hyundai Santa Cruz makes it to Australia.

Executives at Hyundai Australia have also raised their hand for this lifestyle ute.

As with the Ford Maverick, the Hyundai Santa Cruz is a car-derived pick-up (it shares its DNA with the Hyundai Tucson SUV) that delivers double-cab ute practicality but SUV manouvreability and fuel economy.

Fingers crossed a factory-built right-hand-drive Hyundai Santa Cruz makes it over the line, and into Australian showrooms.

The Kia Telluride is the better looking twin under the skin to the hugely popular Hyundai Palisade.

However, the Kia Telluride didn’t make it to Australia as a factory-built right-hand-drive vehicle because it is made in the US, and the assembly line is not set up for right-hand-drive production.

Hyundai Australia was able to access the Hyundai Palisade because it is made in South Korea on the same ambidextrous production line as the Hyundai Santa Fe.

Please, Kia, get this sorted. What a great looking vehicle. I got to test the Kia Telluride in the US as a World Car of the Year judge a couple of years ago and came away impressed. As with the Ford Maverick, the Kia Telluride is a sell-out success in the US. 

With the demise of the Ford Fiesta ST and Ford Focus ST hot hatches in Australia, we are hopeful Ford might roll the dice and import a batch of Ford Puma ST editions.

The hot city SUV shares its DNA – and engine and gearbox – with the Fiesta ST.

The Ford Puma ST might be a chance for our market because Australia already sells the regular Puma range – so parts and service support are already in place – and the Puma ST is factory-built in right-hand-drive.

The one road block: it is a manual transmission-only proposition for now.

But if the Ford Puma ST were to become available with an automatic transmission it would still be a cracking drive – and broaden its appeal to a wider audience. Sadly, manual transmission vehicles make up less than 5 per cent of Australia’s new car sales.

The Chevrolet Tahoe seven-seat SUV comes in regular and long body styles. Both are huge. Even the smallest Chevrolet Tahoe dwarfs the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series and Nissan Patrol.

Given the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol are enjoying record sales in Australia, we reckon the Chevrolet Tahoe is a no-brainer.

It’s nowhere near as capable off-road as the Toyota and Nissan, but it doesn’t need to be. How many go off-road any way?

For the concrete cowboys (and cowgirls) and mall crawlers among us, the Chevrolet Tahoe has acres of room, can carry or tow plenty, and has more car-like driving dynamics compared to a Toyota LandCruiser or Nissan Patrol. 

Given the dashboard, firewall, engine and much of the frame are shared with the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 – remanufactured by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group in Melbourne for General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) – our hope is the Tahoe makes it onto the consideration list the next time GMSV is planning to expand its portfolio.

Once the Chevrolet Tahoe is over the line, we’d push for the next car on our list.

The Cadillac Escalade is essentially a Chevrolet Tahoe but with a new body and an overhauled (and much more luxurious) interior.

While much of the remanufacturing work for the right-hand-drive conversion that is hidden from view could be shared with the Chevrolet Tahoe and Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the challenge for the Cadillac Escalade is the requirement to engineer a new right-hand-drive dash.

The tooling for that alone is in the millions of dollars – but if GMSV can find a way to make this financially viable, it would give the top-end SUVs from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz some serious competition.

Downsides to the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade? They would be hit with Luxury Car Tax (US pick-ups are not) which would add 33 per cent to the cost of an already expensive donor vehicle and costly conversion process.

As much as Mazda likes to promote its “zoom zoom” image and fun-to-drive cars, the Japanese brand hasn’t had a hot hatch in its line-up for more than a decade.

An ideal candidate for a modern-day Mazda hot hatch is built in Mexico for the US market. Sadly, it's not made in right-hand-drive.

The Mazda3 Turbo adopts the turbocharged 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine from the Mazda CX-9 and pairs it to a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive.

The 0 to 100km/h performance is in the 6.0-second bracket, which makes it Volkswagen Golf GTI quick but with all-wheel-drive grip.

Given Mazda is a Japanese company – and Japan is a right-hand-drive country – surely it can find a way to deliver us a Mazda3 Turbo.

If you've been counting, the new Toyota Prius is Number 11 on our list, but we made an exception after the car was unveiled as we were compiling this story.

The all-new, fifth-generation model is about to go on sale overseas.

In addition to its sleek looks (click here for the full story), we reckon the Toyota Prius deserves to return to Australian showrooms because it was one of the pioneers of the hybrid movement, and it is the reason so many vehicles in the Toyota line-up today use half the fuel of their equivalent petrol models.

The Toyota Prius was designed to be different, then Toyota discovered buyers were just as happy with hybrid tech in conventional-looking cars.

But it's time to celebrate the Toyota Prius after 20 years – and time to once again stand out from the crowd.

Here's hoping Toyota Australia reconsiders its position on Prius and the badge makes a return to local showrooms.

Without it, the latest model would become the first Toyota Prius not to be sold in Australia.