Every year we get pumped about what lies ahead, and with so many new brands landing in Australia, the choice is almost dizzying. 2026 feels a bit different. Not because the industry has suddenly found its groove again, but because the market is getting squeezed from every angle.
It’s a bit shit show out there.
New Chinese brands keep turning up on our shores. The old premium players are fighting to protect their turf. Porsche is in decline. WTF?! EV fatigue is real, but so is the fact that the EV stuff is finally getting good. Faster charging, better packaging, and interiors that no longer feel like someone designed them in an iPad factory.
That said, nobody is driving from Melbourne to Sydney in anything other than a Tesla right now. So Elon still is king on distance down under but that will change. Hello, Volvo.
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We’ve curated ten cars that feel like they’ll actually matter right now. Both to the consumer and to the brands themselves. Some because they’ll sell in big numbers. Some because they’ll embarrass the establishment. Some because they’re just cool, and there’s still space for that.
10. Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro
The Hyundai Palisade won DMARGE Car of the Year last year, and for good reason. It’s one of those rare big family SUVs that doesn’t feel like a compromise. It’s spacious, it makes sense, it drives well enough that you don’t hate your life, and it nails the sweet spot of value vs comfort vs “this will survive our household”.
Now Hyundai’s taken that winning formula and gone a bit more feral with it.
The Palisade XRT Pro is essentially the off-road-flavoured version of the car that already made a lot of luxury buyers quietly nervous. Seven seats, heaps of presence, and that exact vibe that has people genuinely asking the question: do I spend Range Rover or Lexus GX money, or do I buy something like this and keep the change?
For Australian families who do the camping thing properly, meaning the ute has mud on it and the kids have crumbs in places you didn’t know existed, this will be a hit. It’s about being capable enough to go up the mountain and get to the places you actually go, not the places you pretend you go in Instagram captions.
And the best part is the simple part. It looks f*cking fantastic. People buy with their eyes first and their spreadsheet second. This one wins the first battle instantly.
9. Polestar 5
Polestar has been quietly earning respect the way most brands don’t anymore, by making cars that actually feel considered. The Polestar 4 was our favourite a couple of years ago, and the Polestar 5 feels like the moment the brand stops playing in the “cool alternative” lane and starts swinging properly.
This is their first big sleek four-door grand tourer, and it’s aiming straight at Porsche Taycan territory. That’s serious company. It’s built on an aluminium platform, it has that minimalist Swedish design that somehow manages to feel expensive without screaming for attention, and it sits in that sweet spot where it looks fast even when it’s parked.
Polestar has always had a strong design signature, but the 5 feels like the car that makes Porsche owners glance twice and quietly go, “Hang on… what is that?”
Massive rims, clean lines, and that modern electric GT shape that looks like it belongs outside a hotel you can’t afford. Number nine, easy.
8. Porsche Cayenne EV
Porsche has had a rough run of it lately, and that’s putting it politely.
The Macan going EV-only has copped an absolute hammering, because people don’t just buy Porsches for the badge. They buy them for the way an engine feels, the way the car moves, and the little emotional payoff you get every time you start it up.
Then the sales numbers landed. Worst since 2009. That’s not a bad month, that’s a proper “what are we doing here?” moment.
Which is why the Cayenne EV matters.
The Cayenne is one of those cars Porsche can’t afford to get wrong. It’s a cornerstone product. It’s a licence to print money. And if it drives anything like the Macan, which is still one of the best-driving SUVs full stop, then this could be a redemption arc.
It also comes with that new wave of tech, including the wireless charging upgrades Porsche is pushing with this model. It’s all a bit snazzy, a bit slick, and very “we’ve moved on, deal with it”. If Porsche nails dynamics, no one’s going to care that it’s electric. They’ll just care that it’s good.
7. Toyota GR GT
This is a real WTF from Toyota and we approve.
Toyota’s Gazoo Racing division has been getting bolder and bolder, and the GR GT looks like a performance statement made by people who got sick of being sensible. Massive front end, proportions that feel retro in the best way, and a stance that looks like it came out of a 60s or 70s fever dream.
It’s ridiculous. In a good way.
There’s also something about Toyota stepping into V8 Supercars that gives this car extra cultural weight, especially for Australians who still think the best motorsport involves actual noise and a bit of arrogance. Whether it lands here in 2026 or drifts into 2027 territory, it’s a car that feels like it’s made for people who grew up on posters, not spreadsheets.
It also taps into that boy racer era energy. Not the cringe “eBay exhaust” version. The good version, where cars had personality and people cared enough to argue about them.
6. XPeng G9
I spotted the XPeng G9 at the electric car show in Sydney, and it was one of those moments where you realise the new wave of EV brands isn’t coming, it’s already here.
This is by far one of the better-looking EV SUVs out right now, and it doesn’t rely on gimmicks to get your attention. It just looks premium. Properly premium. The interior quality is the real surprise too. It has that modern clean high-end EV cabin vibe, similar to what Lotus has been doing, where the materials actually feel expensive instead of “techy”.
It’s built around an 800-volt charging architecture, which matters because charging speed is the one thing that turns EV ownership from tolerable to genuinely good. People love talking about range, but what you really want is the ability to get back on the road quickly without having a meltdown next to a charger at a shopping centre.
Great pricing, a visual update coming, and it’s landing in March. That timing is perfect, because once you start seeing these on the road, you’re going to see a lot of them. Australia loves a good SUV, and we love feeling like we discovered something before everyone else did. The G9 ticks both boxes.
5. Zeekr 007 GT
Personal favourite.
The Zeekr 007 GT is a shooting brake wagon, and if you’re like me and you’ve got a soft spot for wagons, this is the sort of car that makes you sit forward in your chair.
Wagons have always been the enthusiast’s choice for people who want performance without looking like they’re trying too hard. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. A wagon says: I’m busy, I’ve got taste, I probably don’t talk to strangers at petrol stations and prefer to not fly economy.
Zeekr, as a brand, is leading the charge on design right now. That’s what they’re selling more than anything. Aesthetic confidence. And the 007 GT feels like their hit car. Everyone’s talking about it. It looks sharp, it feels modern, and it has the kind of form factor that makes SUVs seem a bit lazy.
Fast charging, serious presence, and apparently due mid-year. It will be fast and furious, and something we’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel of.
4. Jeep Wagoneer S
We’re rooting for Jeep. Low-key hope this helps them.
The Wagoneer S is full electric, yes, but the more important part is the direction. It feels like Jeep finally understood what the future should look like for them. Big, luxurious, properly modern, and not pretending it’s still 1999.
Inside, it’s screens and space and that upscale feel you normally associate with the brands Jeep constantly gets compared to. It has a bit of Range Rover energy, and for Jeep, that’s exactly the point. Stellantis has had a rough time lately, and the brand has been drifting. The Wagoneer S is a really solid attempt to stop the drift.
It also feels like the right Jeep product for the world we’re in now. Big car, big comfort, big presence, and the kind of cabin that makes people feel like they’re getting “their money’s worth”. Jeep needs a win, and this could be it.
3. Cadillac Vistiq
Cadillac is back in Australia, and that alone makes the Vistiq very interesting.
The Vistiq is basically the EV era interpretation of that big American luxury vibe. Think Escalade proportions, but electrified. Three rows, proper size, big presence, and a cabin designed to make you feel like you’re in something expensive before you’ve even touched the throttle.
There’s also something genuinely exciting about Cadillac entering Formula One this year. That’s not a side note, that’s a statement. It drags the brand out of the “old luxury” category and forces it into modern relevance.
We get to drive the Cadillac Vistiq in March, down in Melbourne as part of the Grand Prix, and that’s the exact environment a car like this needs. Big week, big energy, big impressions, and a car that’s designed to look like it belongs outside the best hotel in town.
I can’t wait to drive it. This one has proper momentum behind it.
2. Audi RS5 Avant
Audi has done what Audi loves doing: confusing everyone for no reason.
They’ve changed the numbering, so the RS4 is now an RS5, and I don’t know why the fuck they did that. Nobody asked for it. Nobody benefits from it. It just makes it harder for normal people to know what they’re looking at.
But the car itself is what matters.
Audi hasn’t fully revealed what the RS5 Avant will look like yet, but if it’s built off what we’re seeing with the S5, it’s going to be a hit. I drive an RS4. I love the thing. It’s the perfect mix of practicality and menace, and it still feels like a proper driver’s car even though it’s also a wagon you can live with.
The RS5 Avant is that same promise: fast, usable, sharp, and aggressively good-looking without trying to be a TikTok trend. This is the kind of car that makes you feel like you’ve won at life without needing to announce it.
1. BMW iX3 Neue Klasse
The iX3 Neue Klasse feels like the most important BMW EV in years because it’s the one that resets the whole identity. It’s not just a new model. It’s a new posture. A total vibe. New exterior language, new interior philosophy, new tech approach, and a clear intention to beat the Chinese brands at their own game without copying them.
BMW needed a big aesthetic change, and this is it.
What I love about this car is that it nods back to the late 70s BMW era, the CSL vibe, the clean, purposeful shapes, the kind of cars that looked right because they were drawn by people who cared about driving, not just moodboards. It even hits me personally because it reminds me of my first car, a 318i. That old-school BMW feeling of “simple, sharp, sorted” is baked into this, even though it’s packed with modern tech.
This is the next big thing in EVs for BMW. It feels like a home run.
It’s due out in Australia mid-year-ish from what I’m hearing, and when it lands, it’ll be one of those cars people instantly start benchmarking against. Not because it’s the latest and greatest but because it finally feels like BMW decided what it wants to be again.
Final Word
Yes, the list is heavy on EVs. That’s not because petrol is dead, it’s because the most interesting product momentum right now is happening in the electric space, whether we like it or not. These are the cars I’m most excited to drive this year. Not the cars I’m excited to look at online. The ones I want in my hands, on real roads, doing real life.
Half of them land the way they should. 2026 is going to be a very fun year to be a car person.
