The 10 biggest car news stories of 2024
December 28, 2024 by Neil Briscoe
Car changing is a big deal
From a big Dacia to a small Tesla, here are the motoring news stories that captured the attention of Carwow’s readers this year.
2024 was quite the year for car news, from new models being announced to huge financial scandals that could see payouts for thousands of British car buyers. Electric cars were launched, just as electric car sales started to falter and price cuts savaged second hand values. Supercars were revealed, just as car makers started to post losses and talk about job cuts. All that and our biggest news story of the year was about an affordable family car. Here’s what was making the news in 2024…
1. New Dacia Bigster
Dacia just seems irrepressible at the moment, whether it’s making affordable hatchbacks and SUVs that buyers right across the UK and Europe seem to love, to making the cheapest electric car on sale – and even to taking on the challenge of the gruelling Dakar off-road rally. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that our biggest news story was about Dacia’s biggest car, the appropriately-named Bigster, which goes on sale in 2025, and will be a compelling alternative to the likes of the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage, but with a much cheaper price tag.
2. Tesla Cybertruck
Can a car be famous and infamous at the same time? Well, the Tesla Cybertruck can. It’s not even officially on sale in the UK, and yet you were all fascinated by the story of Elon Musk’s sci-fi-looking pickup truck, with its big range, huge cabin, and Thunderbirds-style front-boot (froot?) in that blunt nose. The Cybertruck is still making headlines, with worries about reliability and just how good it is off-road, but there’s little else that makes more headlines than this dramatic electric truck.
3. Toyota Land Cruiser
If the Tesla Cybertruck is all about publicity generation and controversy, then the Toyota Land Cruiser is the motoring world’s safe pair of hands. The Land Cruiser has been providing ultra-reliable motoring in the world’s toughest environments since the 1950s, and this all-new version harks back to the good old days, with lights and grilles that give the new Land Cruiser the look of a seventies or eighties model. Behind the retro design, it’s also enormously capable, and more luxurious than ever. No wonder you were all so interested.
4. Living with a used Tesla Model 3
More second hand cars change hands every year in the UK than new cars are sold. Way more, which is why it’s so important to develop the market for used electric cars. However, right now, used car buyers are a bit scared of EVs, worried about battery reliability and charging problems. To find out what it’s actually like to own a used electric car, we lived with a second-hand Tesla Model 3 with 40,000 miles on the clock and tested it for commuting, long motorway journeys, and even drag-raced it against the new, updated-for-2024 Model 3. How did we get on? Click below to find out…
5. Porsche Macan Electric
When a brand as important to the motoring world as Porsche starts to lean into electric power, you know the EV revolution is starting to gather pace. Porsche’s second all-electric car — after the Taycan, but ahead of the incoming new Boxster — is the big-selling Macan, and even though there are still some petrol Macans available, turning your best-seller into an EV is a big gamble right now. Little wonder that this high-performance, sharp-handling electric SUV garnered such interest on our news pages.
6. Mis-sold PCP – could you claim compensation?
Car news is usually about what’s new and what’s coming next, but one of the biggest — and most important — stories on which we reported was the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into car loans signed up for before 2021. There were concerns that interest rates had been artificially inflated so as to grab higher commissions for the sales person handling the transaction, and the upshot is that thousands of car buyers may be owed compensation. No surprise, then, that this story was a big one when it broke.
7. Tesla Model Y leasing price cut
A recurring story throughout 2024 has been Tesla cutting its prices. Stung by tougher competition in the electric car market, especially in China, Tesla has been chopping its Model Y and Model 3 prices to pump up sales, and the knock-on effect throughout the car industry — from new car prices to used car values — has been enormous. In this piece, we looked at Tesla’s decision to dramatically cut £100 a month from the cost of leasing a Model Y – though this wasn’t to be a long-term offer…
8. Renault 5 revealed
Renault has seriously and impressively bounced back from its horrendous multi-billion-pound losses during and after the Pandemic, and has really shaken up the motoring world with impressive new models, especially its expanding electric car lineup. The star of that lineup is unquestionably the gorgeous, retro-look Renault R5 E-Tech electric hatchback. Most adorable news of the year? Probably…
9. Tesla Model Q
The tale of Tesla’s supposed compact electric car is a torturous one, with an affordable £25,000 hatchback variously being announced for production, demanded by investors, and dismissed as ‘pointless’ by Tesla’s boss Elon Musk. Has the compact Tesla been permanently scrapped now that Musk wants to make the fully autonomous Cybercab? Our news story untangled the mess of rumour and counter-rumour, but even the week before Christmas there was another twist in the tale with rumours that the small EV project was back on with a new name – Model Q. Click below to read the latest update…
10. Tesla Model Y Juniper
Given that the Tesla Model Y is one of the world’s best-selling cars — and indeed was the outright global Number 1 in 2023 — it should come as no surprise that our news story detailing the updates due for the upcoming ‘Juniper’ version would be of huge interest. Just like the ‘Highland’ upgrades to the Model 3 saloon, the Model Y is going to get sharper styling, improved quality and tech, and more range on a charge. Check out all the details below.
Looking for an easy way to change your car? Then Carwow is the place to go. You can sell your old car for a great price, and get the best deals on a new one. All through our network of trusted dealers and all from the comfort of your home. Tap the button below to get started today.