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It’s hard to believe that just 20 years ago the Australian car market was dominated by the big three brands: Toyota, Holden, and Ford. As 2025 draws to a close, a mind-boggling 70+ car makers are vying for the consumer dollar – and it seems as if every other week heralds the arrival of a new Chinese manufacturer. Motoring journalists can scarcely keep up with the pace of change, never mind the average punter.
It’s interesting, then, that the Open Road team’s picks for the best drives of 2025 largely centre around more traditional vehicles.
While the BYD Atto 1 and IM5/IM6 fly the flag for increasingly affordable electric vehicles and the Chery Tiggo 9 reflects Australia blossoming love affair with plug-in hybrids, nearly everything else on the list can trace its roots back to ‘legacy’ marques and the internal combustion engine.
Before we get into that list, however, it’s perhaps worth name-checking a few vehicles that almost made the cut, among them the Skoda Elroq, Tesla Model Y, MG HS Hybrid+, BYD Shark 6 and Ford Ranger PHEV. Australia is, quite simply, spoiled for choice. One wonders how much longer our small market can sustain such a surfeit of competing brands.
Enough analysis; let’s get into Open Road’s best drives of 2025.
Very small, very cheap and very fun, the BYD Atto 1 was a pleasantly surprising standout for us during a year which saw the introduction of many, many electric vehicles.
Now the smallest model in BYD’s local line-up, and far and away the cheapest EV overall in Australia, the $23,990 Atto 1 left a mark on us after we were invited to China to test it earlier this year.
Value- and tech-rich, the diminutive and all-electric Atto 1 is a bona fide statement about just how close we are to parity between EV and combustion models – both in price and practicality.
With driving ranges of between 220-310km, and packing loads of genuinely enjoyable dynamism, we expect to see more than a few Atto 1s darting around the tight backstreets of metropolitan Australia.
Liam Murphy
Aussies love a tough ute and in 2025 you’d be hard-pressed to find a tougher one (at least straight off the showroom floor) than the Ford Ranger Super Duty. Brought to market with one core purpose – to disrupt the long-standing sales dominance of the iconic Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series – the Super Duty broadens the performance bandwidth of the highly successful Ranger platform, providing fleets and nomads alike with a sensible workhorse option.
That this mid-size ute can tow 4.5 tonnes while remaining so comfortable unladen is proof of the Australian-led engineering excellence underneath.
Sam Charlwood
It was absolutely pouring with rain when we test drove the updated Mk8.5 Volkswagen Golf R, with the volume of water so incessant that we had the wipers on max all day and the road took on an oily mirror finish. Normally this would curtail any meaningful road testing but in a welcome twist of fate, it actually played into the all-wheel-drive R’s hands.
Where other hatches would have been axle tramping and wheel spinning on the slippery surface, the Golf R was rock-solid, its all-wheel-drive system, predictable handling and excellent ride quality encouraging you to push on and carry more speed rather than dawdle along.
It’s a hoot in the dry, too. We enjoyed a stint at Sydney Motorsport Park the next day, and the updated R wasn’t just impressively capable during prolonged track use with little to no brake fade or temp issues, but its new torque-splitting rear differential (nicked from the Audi RS3) injected a welcome dose of engagement and fun.
The real magic, though, is how the R slips seamlessly into your life. It’s comfortable and roomy enough to use every day, and at circa-$70K it’s also usefully cheaper than its key rivals.
Alex Inwood
A late entrant into our best drives of 2025 list, the Chery Tiggo 9 impressed with its plug-in hybrid drivetrain that combines phenomenal power with frugality that would impress Ebenezer Scrooge.
Its 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and three motors put out a stonking 315kW and 580Nm – a potentially pant-soiling prospect in a 2800kg seven-seater SUV, but the Tiggo 9’s suspension setup and AWD grip keep that muscle under control for a stable and confident drive.
Not only does it deliver when you drop your right foot, it does so without damaging your hip pocket. Provided you keep its 34kWh battery charged up, you can expect 1250km from a single tank of fuel and 146km on electric power alone.
The Tiggo 9 doesn’t just impress with what’s under the bonnet, either. It provides a spacious, comfortable and quiet interior, with acoustic glass for the windscreen and front windows insulating occupants from the outside world and lots of soft-touch surfaces further adding to the sense of affordable luxury.
And the Tiggo 9 certainly is affordable, packing in all that performance, economy and a long list of standard inclusions for a tick under $60,000 before on roads – a good $10,000 less than comparable PHEVs from other brands.
While the Chery Tiggo 9’s not without its shortcomings, they’re easily forgivable when it’s such a fun and relaxed family car that you look forward to driving every day.
Kris Ashton
Has there been a more controversial or hyped car in 2025 than the Kia Tasman? As Kia’s first ever dual-cab ute, the Tasman splashed onto the Australian scene amid plenty of fanfare, with a five-star marketing campaign (headlined by an impressive score of high-profile Aussie sporting stars) which was only eclipsed by the publicity around its polarising looks.
Kia was talking big game, too. Local execs went on the record at the Tasman’s launch with sales predictions of 20,000 units a year. Sadly, those kinds of figures are yet to materialise – the local brass have since walked back on their bold claims – but that shouldn’t diminish what is objectively a strong contender in the dual-cab segment. The Tasman resets benchmarks for cabin space and comfort, handles well on-road and is truly impressive away from the sealed stuff. And with more body-styles and variants still to join the local range, we’re backing the Tasman to make more of a sales impact in 2026.
Sam Charlwood
Being able to buy a factory-fitted, side-piped V8 in 2025 might sound like a daydream in an age where motoring is becoming more and more digitised and regulated, but the Nissan Patrol Warrior is refreshingly old school, and we love it for that.
An artefact of a mostly bygone era, the current Y62 generation Patrol has enjoyed 12 years of strong sales in Australia, with a plethora of updates keeping it feeling relatively ‘new’. A
dd further tweaks made by Melbourne-based engineering firm Premcar, which increase off-road ability, aesthetics, handling and, most soulfully, the beautiful symphony of a 5.6-litre naturally aspirated V8, and you get a hell of a thing.
For better or worse, the Y62 Patrol Warrior is a dying breed, with its successor due in Australia in 2026. We say drive, love and enjoy cars like this while you still can – and you best believe that we did just that over the last 12 months.
Liam Murphy
Sneers and laughter were the typical reaction to the news that Chinese manufacturer MG Motor intended to launch a luxury marque in Australia. But anyone who attended the launch of the IM brand in mid-2025 soon found their scepticism fading.
The IM5 (sedan) and IM6 (SUV) were simply impressive, with plush interiors that prioritise comfort over sportiness, enough grunt in the halo IM5 Performance model to get it to 100km/h in just 3.2 seconds, and a list of standard inclusions and technology that belied the range’s $60,990 starting price.
IM purportedly stands for ‘Intelligence in Motion’ and that was certainly on display in its debut models. One highlight was traditional steering wheel buttons replaced with spheres that act as both buttons and rollers and can go up, down or sideways for easy navigation through menus. Another was a self-parking function that enables the IM5 and IM6 to identify and reverse into spots from any angle, ‘crab walk’ in or out of a tight space, and a 100-metre ‘trace back’ function that lets the car retrace its course out of a twisting driveway or dead end at the touch of a button.
Far from the cringeworthy attempt at a prestige brand many pundits predicted, MG Motor showed just how far Chinese manufacturers have come in the past five years. Not only did IM exceed expectations in quality and performance, it also brought its cars to market for a price where most legacy luxury brands are only just getting started.
Kris Ashton
Aussie families might be flocking to SUVs as the default choice for a new car in 2025 but is there a better option hiding under our noses? Spend 10 minutes driving the updated Skoda Octavia RS and we wager you’ll agree it’s a smarter buy. Available as both a wagon or lift-back sedan, the Octavia RS isn’t only roomier and more practical, but it has a bigger boot too.
And those aren’t even its biggest strengths. That’s found in how it drives. Lower and sportier than any family SUV, the Octavia RS offers sharper handling, more engaging dynamics and (unless your SUV is a hybrid) better fuel economy, too. It really is a convincing all-round package, made even more so by Skoda’s tasteful 2025 update which added more technology inside, more power under the bonnet, and an updated safety suite. Still considering that SUV? Test drive one of these first.
Alex Inwood
We called the updated Aston Martin Vantage “a brute in a suit” when we threw it around Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this year, and nothing has changed in our minds since.
The British marque’s renewed focus on building proper sports and super cars has seen the Vantage become the most ludicrous it’s ever been. It may not have the poise or precision of a Porsche 911, but a theatrical 489kW and 800Nm twin-turbo V8, perfect balance and a rear axle that punishes if not shown the respect it deserves make the Vantage ruthlessly fast, dynamically accomplished and an insanely engaging experience.
It’s a refreshing steer that prioritises raw driving prowess over all-out (and often computer-aided) speed – all the while being jaw-droppingly gorgeous as it does so. If this is the recipe Aston Martin is going to use to cook up all its models going forward, we’re here for it.
Liam Murphy
Keen observers may note this is the second year in a row that the fifth-generation Hyundai Santa Fe has appeared on our ‘best drives’ list. This is no oversight or accident. It really is that good.
After impressing us in 2024 with its eye-catching looks, roomy and luxurious cabin and excellent driving dynamics, the Santa Fe romped into an Open Road comparison test this year against the volume-selling Toyota Kluger and updated Skoda Kodiaq. Over two days of exhausting testing, the Santa Fe’s convincing blend of value, space and performance saw it outscore both rivals to further cement its place as one of the best large family SUVs currently on sale.
Alex Inwood
