Top five car reviews of 2023

The Australian automotive world will remember 2023 for several reasons, chief among them record-breaking sales. Spurred by huge customer order backlogs post-COVID, this year’s bumper sales tally is unlikely to be topped any time soon.

The year 2023 also saw the EV market evolve at both ends of the spectrum, the reveal of the long-awaited Toyota Prado and Elon Musk finally deliver on his promise to release the 1980s-inspired sci-fi Cybertruck – at least in the US.

But 2023 was also the year of the SUV – again – with sales of higher-riding wagons growing by around 20 per cent (more than any other new vehicle type), accounting for well over half of the bumper new-vehicle market this year.

So it’s no surprise that carsales readers went berko for SUV reviews, which accounted for seven of the top 10 reviews perused on this website in 2023.

1. Toyota RAV4 XSE 2WD Hybrid 2022 Review

The Toyota RAV4 is as unrelenting in its popularity as gravity is on the surface of planet Earth. Not only did it return to the top of the SUV sales segment late in 2023 after the Tesla Model Y gave it a scare for most of the year, it was also top of the pops in the reviews category here at carsales, with this December 2022 road test of the XSE Hybrid proving more popular than any other review.

2. Best Family SUV 2023

The large family SUV segment grew by around 10 per cent in 2023 and it was no surprise to see more buyers doing more research on this popular vehicle type, as evidenced by the huge number of eyeballs on our 2023 Best Family SUV award. Spoiler alert – the Kia Sorento won. Again!

3. Toyota LandCruiser Sahara ZX 2022 Review

Our most-read review of last year was still among the top-three most popular reviews this year – despite being published back in September 2022 – showing just how sought-after the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series remains with potential buyers, especially in top-spec Sahara ZX form.

4. Kia Sportage 2023 Long Term Review

While the Toyota RAV4 took top spot in the sales and readers lists, the Kia Sportage continues to be one of Australia’s most popular mid-size SUVs and in 2023 our long-term review of three different variants found favour with potential customers looking for greater depth and nuance when researching their next new-car purchase.

5. Ford Ranger Wildtrak 2.0 Bi-Turbo 2023 Review

The new-generation Ford Ranger may have launched in mid-2022 but the hype surrounding the Australian-developed ute simply won’t die away. Despite an array of new variants being released since its release, this review on one of the most popular Ranger models ranked among our top five reviews of 2023.

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