.jpg "Rust in pieces: Ford Fiesta and Focus, Toyota Prius hybrid car is gone, and and we say goodbye to an iconic Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol rival – the Mitsubishi Pajero – Car News
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It’s among the strangest new car years on record in Australia, with almost all models extremely hard to come by – with long order queues and shipping delays – and their prices seem to be heading in only one direction . And it looks like all of that will continue into the new year as well.
But no matter how hard it is to get into a Toyota LandCruiser, a 70 Series, a Nissan Patrol, a RAV4 Hybrid or a Mazda CX-5, I can guarantee it will be even harder to secure the next list of these vehicles.
In fact, they would be impossible. Mostly because they were pushed into the new car cliff. Blame slow sales, or changing tastes, but here are the cars that are now rusting.
Read more about cars that are no longer in showrooms
Ford Fiesta
The once very popular Ford Fiesta (I can guarantee you own one, or know someone who does) Ford Fiesta, and not just in Australia, but around the world as well.
Ford said it would kill the Fiesta in June next year, ostensibly to free up research and development and factory space for the brand’s EV launch, but the decision didn’t hurt much in Australia, where the model is already on life support.
We’ve yet to get the full seventh-generation Fiesta line-up in Australia, with the brand instead only launching the fire-breathing ST model in our market – indicating our growing taste for small SUVs over passenger cars .
And so, after 47 years of being sold around the world, the Fiesta festival is over.
Gone but not forgotten.
Ford Focus
It’s not just the Fiesta, but its Ford Focus sibling, too. Again, it only came in go-fast ST trim — a pretty strong sign of what’s to come — but in August this year, the brand confirmed it was heading to the automotive graveyard, ahead of its expected global axing in 2025. .
“Both the Focus ST and Fiesta ST have been segment-defining hot hatches for Ford Australia and brought smiles to the faces of enthusiasts across the country, but…we’ve made the difficult decision to call time on the iconic hot hatches hatch in Australia,” Ford said in a statement.
Hyundai Ioniq
The Hyundai Ioniq has always been seen as the canary in Hyundai’s EV coal mine, so its future is always in doubt when the brand starts rolling out the cooler Hyundai Ioniq 5, and the models that follow it.
Still, the Ioniq is a mega-competent offering – even if it definitely lacks the wow factor of the current crop of electric cars – and comes as a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or as a full EV.
It launched globally in 2016, and hit Australia in 2018, but the bell has now rung for the Ioniq, with no replacement in sight.
Toyota Prius
The Prius began its life as the subject of many automotive jokes some 21 years ago in Australia, but Toyota saw something in the hybrid that many of us didn’t, and as it turns out, the joke was on us.
Because two decades later, all anyone wants is a hybrid vehicle, and Toyota’s in particular, with the Yaris Cross Hybrid, Corolla Cross Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid and Kluger Hybrid all following in the footsteps of first trend-setting Toyota, the humble Prius .
But the bell has finally rung for the car that started it all, so after more than two decades and four generations, Toyota stopped importing the Prius this year, and then pulled the model from sale.
But hope is not lost, Prius fans. Toyota has revealed a stunning new version of its trailblazing hybrid, thought it has yet to be confirmed for Australia.
Do it, Toyota.
Mitsubishi Pajero
This one is more like the death of a thousand cuts, I know, but in 2022, we finally say goodbye to one of Mitsubishi’s most iconic nameplates, along with the last examples of Pajero buyers looking for .
Mitsubishi Pajero production officially ended in March 2021, but the last stragglers were assigned to buyers at the beginning of this year.
And with no replacement on the horizon, those customers now own a piece of automotive history.
The Pajero is powered by a 3.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, producing 141kW/441Nm — quite a bit below the odds by today’s standards — and is announced in the aptly titled Final Edition, of which 800 reached our shores. .
“Remaining Pajero stock is being delivered in the coming weeks, to both fleet and private customers,” Mitsubishi told us in February.
Honorable mentions
While the model names live on, we’ve also said goodbye to multiple engine/transmission combos, or trim levels, on some of Australia’s most popular models.
The introduction of the all-new Ford Ranger, for example, means the death of the 3.2-litre, five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, while Mazda says goodbye to its entry-level 2.0-litre manual offering in the CX- 5. And with the relaunch of the Niro, Kia has said goodbye to its plug-in hybrid powertrain, instead launching only Hybrid and BEV models.
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