The changing face of Australia’s favourite car – DCOTY through the years

Our roads today tell a completely different story as to what they did five or 10 years ago.

There are clearly more SUVs, and undoubtedly more utes, meaning we're seeing less traditional sedans and wagons in the process.

The winner of the 2023 Drive Car of the Year, for the first time in the 17 years the awards have run, is the Ford Ranger, a four-wheel-drive double-cab ute. It is technically a light-commercial vehicle rather than a car, but as you'll see below, buyers are flocking to utes as lifestyle solutions rather than simply working trucks.

So how did we get here?

Let's wind the clock back to 2006, when the inaugural Drive Car of the Year winner was announced as the Audi TT, and follow the winners and trends forward to today.

The VE Holden Commodore launched, and Drive awarded top honours to the second-generation Audi TT coupe.

Holden's big sedan still topped the charts, but passenger car sales slipped from 62.2 per cent to 60.7 per cent of overall sales. New vehicle sales topped the one-million mark.

Drive's big prize went to Honda's achievable-luxury sedan, and the Commodore held on to the top spot with over 50,000 unit sales. However, it would be the last time any top seller passed that milestone.

The market was recovering the the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and total sales dropped below seven figures.

Volkswagen's new 'smaller' hatch wins Drive Car of the Year, and the Holden Commodore has its last year as Australia's favourite car.

The 4x4 ute category hits double-digit market share (10 per cent) and we hit a cultural low point in the ARIA charts.

The best car is a sports car, with Toyota's new rear-drive fun machine taking the DCOTY win. Despite this, passenger cars enjoy their last year above 50 per cent of sales.

The new Mazda CX-5 leaps to the top of the SUV sales chart but at 20,129 units, is still less than half of what the Toyota Corolla sells, in its first of five years as Australia's favourite car.

Mercedes-Benz shrinks an S-Class into the new W205 C-Class to win Drive Car of the Year. Total sales stay above the 1.1-million mark.

Local development pays off for Ford, with the Australian-developed Everest winning Drive Car of the Year. It's not the longest, but at this point, it is the largest car to win the award.

Practicality and up-market refinement take centre stage with an excellent new VW Tiguan taking Drive's top prize. Passenger cars are top, for the last time.

The turning point. Although a small hatchback, the Hyundai i30, wins Drive Car of the Year, sales of SUVs overtake passenger cars for the first time. There is no looking back.

Hybrid happens, and the Toyota Camry wins DCOTY. Electrification is now part of our mainstream motoring life, and we'll only move forward.

Toyota ticks every box by offering a stylish, practically, mid-sized SUV with hybrid power and the RAV4 takes the DCOTY prize. This is the last year we can refer to as 'normal'.

Due to the COVID restrictions and a changeover in publishing timing, there was no Drive Car of the Year for 2020. The awards were realigned to publish in early 2021. Sales dropped below the million mark for the first time since 2009.

We re-launch Drive Car of the Year with a new brand, a new site and an all-new Kia Sorento. Light commercial vehicles outsell passenger cars.

Passenger car market share falls below 20 per cent for the first time, and 4x4 utes are within 8000 units of passing passenger car volumes.

The 4x4 ute has become an SUV with a tub, as technology and refinement take us into a brand new year.

The decline of passenger car sales, and the rise of SUVs and utes is made more clear in this chart.

Will 2023 see 4x4 utes overtake passenger cars, and will another model crack the 50,000-unit mark? We'll have to wait and see.