What’s driving into 2024

The holidays are behind us and it’s time to put all those plans into place for 2024. It could be a career change, booking a dream holiday or joining the gym, again. If you’ve decided to buy a new car soon it’s going to be a year of diverse choices, from more urban crossovers and SUVs to powerful performance cars and executive sedans to silent electric models.

If you are in the market for some new wheels this year, turn the key to start 2024 with our pick of new cars heading to the showrooms.

It’s not an A-Z list but we’ll start with Aston Martin anyway because while our sources won’t go on the record, unofficially we can tell you there will be a new Vantage and the next generation of the DBS, after the launch of the DB12 last year. The great news is that both will benefit from the much-needed focus on interior design that we saw in the DB12, but again, you didn’t hear that from us.

Sticking with the Brits and while the updated Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport are about to go on sale, all eyes are on Jaguar this year. We’ll say goodbye to the F-Type with final editions around the middle of 2024, but Jaguar’s plans to go all-electric are what is keeping us in suspense. Expect the first concept later in the year as a rival to the Porsche Taycan and Audi E-Tron GT, with production versions due on sale in 2025. It’s a massive gamble for Jaguar and one we hope will work, but it’s impossible not to be a little sceptical.

The superb new BMW 5 Series arrives this quarter to satisfy the executive set and the new X2 will follow in the next quarter to satisfy those with less style. Expect a few updates to the 3 and 4 Series models and the big news for performance wagon fans is that the M3 Touring is heading our way, although BMW SA won’t confirm when. They do confirm that the new Mini hatch and Countryman will arrive for the urban trendsetters in the second quarter to write the next chapter for the iconic model.

Rival Mercedes will have a busy year when it comes to facelifts, with updates to most of its GL models as well as a new GLC coupé and GLC AMG. The EQA and EQB will also come under the knife and there will be new performance variants of the C63, S63 and GT63. The brand new E-Class is on its way along with the CLE coupé and we could well see an update to the G-Class later in the year.

Facelifts will also be the order of the day for many Audi models this year, including the A3, Q7 and Q8 during September or October. There will be a bunch of Black Edition models, the new Q8 E-tron should arrive around October and updates to the E-Tron GT and RS will be revealed around midyear.

Before that, during the first quarter, we will see the updated version of the E-Tron’s Stuttgart sibling, the Porsche Taycan. Shortly after that the new Macan will make its debut, including an all-electric version and a little later on Porsche will unveil the updated version of the 911. They will all make their way to SA, of course, as will the new generation of the Panamera, which was revealed towards the end of last year.

Moving away from the Germans, Ford has just launched the Puma crossover in SA. It’s a great little thing, full of character and lovely to drive, but rather awkwardly, Ford is going to reveal the new Puma any day now, along with the new Kuga. If it’s horsepower you’re after then the new Mustang will gallop into town soon too, just don’t confuse it with the fully electric Mustang Mach-E, which is being evaluated by Ford SA at the moment.

Volkswagen will launch the updated Touareg and brand new Tiguan as well as a few facelifts. Volvo on the other hand will launch two of the most eagerly awaited cars this year, the compact EX30 and large and luxurious EX90, both electric.

We haven’t talked much about Chinese carmaker BYD, which was quietly launched in SA in 2023. The company is the biggest manufacturer in the world of new energy vehicles and supplies batteries to both Tesla and Toyota. Its Atto 3 is already on sale here, but we have our fingers crossed that the superb Seal electric sedan will arrive because it really is a surprisingly good alternative to the establishment.

Other arrivals include the fabulous-looking and equally capable new Toyota Land Cruiser and a few new Lexus models. Kia might launch the EV6 and EV9 while sister company Hyundai is evaluating the Ioniq 5 for SA. Expect the new Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster bakkie to make inroads at some point this year.

At the top end of the market, the first electric Rolls-Royce, the Spectre, will be in SA this year and we will be driving it later in January, so keep an eye out for our first impressions. Maserati will launch new versions of the latest Gran Turismo and we’ll no doubt see some exclusive Ferrari and Lamborghini models hit the market. McLaren has just revealed the replacement for the GT, the GTS, and you can expect that to roar into town soon.

2024 is definitely not going to be short on choice when it comes to new models. There are a few we have not been able to talk about at all, and even more models that the manufacturers don’t want to tell us about just yet, but whatever wheels you are looking for to drive through 2024, you’re sure to find something that ticks all your boxes.