News
3 MIN
Read
The New Car Buyer’s Guide is here
May 26, 2026
Not just another award. A guide built around how Australian's choose their next new car.
According to our latest Australia's Car Buyer Report, buying a new car has never been harder. The New Car Buyer’s Guide is built to change that, helping give buyers the clarity and confidence to move from research to ready-to-buy.
The guide is a centralised buyer destination on carsales, covering five real-life categories: city cars, family SUVs, off-road 4x4s, tradie vehicles and electric vehicles. Within each, expert reviewers independently assess and shortlist the vehicles they believe Australians should seriously consider. The standout in each earns Top Pick status and the strongest performers across the category make up the Top 5.
The guide is a buyer-first resource, built on carsales’ editorial commitment to the Australian car buyer. The same expert reviews, comparison tests and video content that drove a 54% year-on-year rise in organic YouTube views in the first quarter of 20261. It is the next chapter of content buyers already actively seek out, now applied directly to the vehicle decisions they are trying to make. For brands, that engaged audience is where the real opportunity sits.
%20(2).png)
Designed for the Buyer
Existing car guides on the market tend to follow VFACTS categories and annual award cycles built around industry priorities. They do not reflect how Australians actually buy cars. The New Car Buyer’s Guide does. That distinction is what makes it credible to the buyers you are trying to reach.
Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026 shows the average new car buying journey runs to 6.5 months2, with nearly two thirds of buyers backtracking at some point4. What makes that harder is trust. Six in ten say it is confusing to know who or what to trust3. An independent guide can help cut through that noise at scale. When buyers get stuck, carsales is the most used website during these backtracking moments5. The New Car Buyer’s Guide meets them there.
How it works
Every featured vehicle is independently assessed by carsales' expert reviewers based on how Australians actually live and drive. Selections are made with no fear or favour, backed by the same editorial rigour driving carsales' reviews, comparison tests and videos. The criteria are transparent and the process is genuinely independent.
For buyers, that independence is the point. A Top Pick from carsales carries weight because it reflects genuine editorial assessment, not commercial arrangement. It tells a buyer: this vehicle was chosen because it is suitable for people like you. For OEMs, it is the kind of credibility that shows up when a buyer is narrowing their shortlist.
The road ahead
For brands whose models appear in the guide, that recognition flows directly into marketplace listings, connecting editorial credibility with purchase action. Buyers who discover a model through the guide will find it again when they are ready to act. For brands not yet featured, the opportunity is still real. The guide is designed to actively drive more new car buyers to carsales, buyers who are already researching, building shortlists and moving toward a decision. That rising volume of demand creates opportunity across the entire new car category, not just for the models inside the guide.
Explore the New Car Buyer’s Guide to see which brands made the cut and where the opportunity sits for you.
Sourcing:
1 Organic Views, YouTube Studio, Jan-Mar 2026
2 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008, Recent new car buyers, n=291B1. Thinking about each stage of the journey so far, how much time, approximately, have you spent at each stage below
3 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008. N1. Here are some things people may say about the journey of buying a car. Tell us how much you agree or disagree with these statements from your own perspective. ‘It’s confusing to know who or what to trust’
4 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008. Q.9 At any point during your vehicle purchase process did you stop or pause? Did you go backwards, start-over or re-evaluate your decision? Q.11Atwhat point in your purchase process did you stop, pause, start-over or re-evaluate?
5 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008. A12 Backtracking car comparison sites used
How it works
Every featured vehicle is independently assessed by carsales' expert reviewers based on how Australians actually live and drive. Selections are made with no fear or favour, backed by the same editorial rigour driving carsales' reviews, comparison tests and videos. The criteria are transparent and the process is genuinely independent.
For buyers, that independence is the point. A Top Pick from carsales carries weight because it reflects genuine editorial assessment, not commercial arrangement. It tells a buyer: this vehicle was chosen because it is suitable for people like you. For OEMs, it is the kind of credibility that shows up when a buyer is narrowing their shortlist.
The road ahead
For brands whose models appear in the guide, that recognition flows directly into marketplace listings, connecting editorial credibility with purchase action. Buyers who discover a model through the guide will find it again when they are ready to act. For brands not yet featured, the opportunity is still real. The guide is designed to actively drive more new car buyers to carsales, buyers who are already researching, building shortlists and moving toward a decision. That rising volume of demand creates opportunity across the entire new car category, not just for the models inside the guide.
Explore the New Car Buyer’s Guide to see which brands made the cut and where the opportunity sits for you.
Sourcing:
1 Organic Views, YouTube Studio, Jan-Mar 2026
2 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008, Recent new car buyers, n=291B1. Thinking about each stage of the journey so far, how much time, approximately, have you spent at each stage below
3 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008. N1. Here are some things people may say about the journey of buying a car. Tell us how much you agree or disagree with these statements from your own perspective. ‘It’s confusing to know who or what to trust’
4 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008. Q.9 At any point during your vehicle purchase process did you stop or pause? Did you go backwards, start-over or re-evaluate your decision? Q.11Atwhat point in your purchase process did you stop, pause, start-over or re-evaluate?
5 Australia's Car Buyer Report 2026, n=2,008. A12 Backtracking car comparison sites used
Ready to achieve your marketing goals?