2025 Rewind: The Connected by the numbers.

The Connected by Henry Man continues to be a trusted source for new vehicle reviews for even more consumers in 2025, amid an ever-crowded market.

With 35 press car loans, more than 7500 photos edited and 83 video creatives published, 2025 has marked a lot of firsts for the independent automotive content platform.

This year, we reviewed the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), first convertible, first ute, and first electric van.

We also welcomed the most influential automakers globally – Toyota and Tesla – to the coverage panel, joining existing brands across the east to the west.

The Connected website recorded 61K+ unique visitors and 224K+ total views (up 189% from 2024), with average daily organic traffic of around 613 views.

Audiences were most engaged with the Deepal S07, Hyundai i30 N and Mazda CX-30 as one of the only channels that invests in long-form critically-detailed new car review articles, with short-form creatives acting as a lead-in.

YouTube experienced significant growth, passing the 1000 subscriber mark in June before achieving 2000 subscribers in November.

There have been 3.5M+ views this year (up ~1844%*) and 43K+ likes (up 1084%) with short-form creatives that continue to perform strongly despite being published in 2024. We also published a long-form video for the first time with promising engagement.

Furthermore, TikTok has seen a continued improvement with 334K+ total views (up 73%) from the creatives published in 2025.

The Connected’s founder Henry Man said trusted new car reviews have never been more important.

“This year has again been a significant investment in critically detailed new-car reviews, quality photography, and short-form creatives to help consumers in an ever-crowded market,” Mr Man said.

“There’s never been more choice for Australians with the arrival of new brands and models vying for a place in consumers’ households.

“From testing a ute for the first time, to being behind the wheel of a full-self driving car and experiencing more new Chinese vehicles, it’s clear that the industry continues to innovate.

“However, it’s so important to look beyond the price tag and spec sheet – now more than ever – with trusted reviews from a range of perspectives from established and independent automotive media, to separate the great cars from the good.

“A new year brings a new chapter, with more content types and vehicles planned in 2026 to further grow The Connected as a trusted independent source for automotive content.”

2025 in Review.

💯 Best overall car in 2025: Tesla Model Y

The extensively refreshed Tesla Model Y doesn’t just impress as a medium electric SUV; it’s a great overall car.

Criticisms of a bland exterior have been addressed, the interior is well-built with high quality soft-touch materials extending from the top to bottom, and there’s plenty of boot, frunk and interior space.

Importantly, the new Model Y is priced from just above $60K drive-away – on par with many petrol and hybrid midsize SUVs – offers astonishingly good energy efficiency, full access to Tesla’s seamless Supercharging network, industry-leading technology, the option of game-changing Full Self-Driving (Supervised), and no strict scheduled servicing requirements.

The Tesla makes transitioning and owning an EV much less stressful.

There’s still room to improve though, it won’t suit everyone, and it faces strong competition including the BYD Sealion 7, Zeekr 7X and Xpeng G6. But as an overall package, the Tesla Model Y is tough to not avoid.

⭐ Honourable mentions

• 👀 Best design: Cupra Tavascan
• 📱 Best tech: Tesla Model 3 and Model Y
• 💯 Most practical: Hyundai Tucson Hybrid
• 😎 Most fun: Hyundai i30 N

👎 Most disappointing cars of 2025

Of the press cars tested this year, some didn’t live up to expectations.

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is one the cheapest proper three-row electric family cars in Australia and is great to drive.

However, for a model that costs in excess of $70K and well into six-figures depending on the variant, the interior felt too cheap, it is spacious but not practical, and short real-world range for a family van that’s ostensibly destined for long-distance road trips.

Meanwhile, the Polestar 4 is an excellent luxury electric car with great hardware, but for a high-end EV that has already been delayed by at least a year due to software issues, it disappointingly still felt like an unfinished product.

Software P4.2.2 had glaring problems that kept gaslighting me by suggesting certain features were available, even though they were coming soon at the time. Thankfully, it’s been addressed with P4.2.4 – yet it still isn’t as easy to use with room for improvement.

On the other hand, Leapmotor C10 is a well-built affordable electric SUV with a family-friendly interior.

It was unfortunately let down by overly light steering and brake pedal that made it feel lifeless to drive, with poorly calibrated safety assist systems, and no Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

*Not a like-for-like comparison; YouTube Shorts views were counted differently from 31 March 2025.

READ MORE: 2024 Rewind: The Connected by the numbers.

READ MORE: 2026 Nissan Qashqai e-Power review

READ MORE: Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Australian review: V13