2025 saw an influx of recent auto brands and models to the Australian market, but in addition a raft of long-running nameplates head for the exit.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee nameplate was withdrawn from the local market after 29 years, longer than the Mahindra Pik-Up (16 years), and the LDV V80, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuner (all offered here for 10 years).
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross wasn’t far behind, ending its eight-year run this 12 months. Newer models axed in 2025 comprised the Toyota Granvia (launched here in 2019) and Volvo C40 (2021).
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While the Grand Cherokee was the oldest nameplate retired in Australia this 12 months, it was the latest of this motley crew of vehicles to be discontinued locally either as a consequence of slow sales or tougher latest regulations.
Read on for a breakdown of every ute, SUV, van and folks mover axed this 12 months, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s feature on the passenger cars axed this 12 months.
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Discuss a fall from grace.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee was once Australia’s best-selling large SUV, beating out the Toyota Prado for the highest spot in 2014 with 16,582 deliveries – 470 ahead of its Japanese rival.
It’s leaving Australia with its tail between its legs, mirroring a precipitous decline in overall Jeep sales and a shrinking of the American brand’s dealer network.
Last 12 months, Jeep delivered just 645 Grand Cherokees, a slump of 48.3 per cent on the previous 12 months. Meaning Grand Cherokee sales have fallen by 96 per cent since 2014, while overall Jeep sales have plummeted by 92 per cent in that period.
The official word from Jeep in March was that it was “pausing” availability of the Grand Cherokee for our market, however it’s understood right-hand drive production of the unibody Prado rival has ended. The electrical Wagoneer S is assuming its role in Europe, but Jeep hasn’t locked on this model for Australia.
The present WL generation launched here in 2022, initially only in long-wheelbase, three-row L guise – the primary Grand Cherokee to supply seven seats. But while it offered greater practicality, the WL did without the turbo-diesel V6 of its WK2 predecessor that had accounted for over half of Grand Cherokee sales in Australia.
With no V8, either, the Grand Cherokee was left with just an ageing 3.6-litre petrol V6 in Australia and without the 3500kg braked towing capability figure that’s almost a prerequisite on this segment. A turbocharged four-cylinder plug-in hybrid arrived here in 2023, but never proved popular.
Jeep’s local lineup has also now shrunk to simply 4 models: the Avenger, Compass, Wrangler and Gladiator. Remarkably, as of the top of November, the Grand Cherokee is outselling all of those by a substantial margin, helped by significant discounts on leftover stock this 12 months which followed huge price cuts made last 12 months.
LDV V80
The LDV V80 was considered one of the oldest models on sale in Australia when it was officially axed early this 12 months.
Production of the V80 wrapped up in China last 12 months after 20 years, and after 10 years on sale in Australia. While that made it older than the Mitsubishi ASX (2010) and Mazda 6 (2012), it was still younger than the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series (1984).
The V80 had reportedly been developed with Daewoo, which held a stake in the previous LDV entity prior to its own financial crisis. When the Korean company was acquired by General Motors, the vehicle and tooling was handed over to LDV.
LDV was subsequently acquired by Russia’s GAZ, before China’s SAIC eventually secured the mental property rights to the brand.
With no lively safety technology, only two airbags, and an expired two-star ANCAP rating from 2013, the V80 had a reasonably lousy safety résumé. Nevertheless, it served as a more cost-effective alternative to newer, safer vans from LDV just like the Deliver 9.
Most customers simply missed it for the LDV G10. Within the V80’s best 12 months, 2023, LDV delivered 596 examples against 2843 G10s and 2975 Deliver 9s.
Mahindra Pik-Up
Mahindra quietly removed the Pik-Up from its local website early this 12 months, when it exhausted leftover stock of the ageing ute.
That has left Mahindra Australia with an SUV-only lineup, if one consisting of much newer models than the virtually 20-year-old Pik-Up that continues to be in production in India.
Mahindra doesn’t report its sales figures to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, so it’s unclear just what number of have been sold here since its 2009 launch.
While the brand is with out a ute in Australia, it guarantees an all-new ute is coming in 2026 that’s being engineered from the bottom up for markets like Australia.
Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross was considered one of three vehicles discontinued by the Japanese brand’s Australian arm in January, all of which couldn’t meet Australian Design Rule 98/00.
This latest regulation outlined specific technical requirements for autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems. While all three models got here standard with AEB, their systems evidently couldn’t meet the brand new requirements.
But while a brand new ASX was concurrently confirmed and a substitute Pajero Sport was teased, the Eclipse Cross was discontinued without substitute. Subsequent to Mitsubishi Australia’s announcement, in September a brand new Eclipse Cross was revealed: a rebadged Renault Scenic E-Tech.
Up to now, this latest Eclipse Cross is for Europe only, though there’s now precedent for a Renault-based Mitsubishi following the launch of the ‘latest’ ASX, a rebadged Renault Captur.
As of November, Mitsubishi was still shifting stock of the Eclipse Cross; it’s understood the brand stockpiled imports of vehicles it needed to discontinue as a consequence of ADR 98/00, ahead of the rule’s implementation on March 1.
A reasonably large offering within the small SUV segment, the Eclipse Cross was launched in Australia in 2017 to fit between the small ASX and mid-size Outlander, using a version of those previous-generation models’ underpinnings.
For 2021, it received a mid-life update with significantly revised rear-end styling, while for 2022 it gained an optional plug-in hybrid powertrain, allowing Mitsubishi to supply a more cost-effective electrified model than the Outlander PHEV.
While the Eclipse Cross at all times lived within the shadow of the cheaper ASX and more practical Outlander, it stepped up in 2024 with a 18.4 per cent bump in sales to 9221 units – closing the gap somewhat to the ASX at 12,330 units, though well off the Outlander at 27,613 units.
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport
Mitsubishi can have discontinued its Pajero Sport early this 12 months because it couldn’t meet latest ADR 98/00 requirements, however the brand isn’t expected to be with out a large SUV for long.
A brand new-generation model, based on the most recent Triton, has been spied testing and overseas reports suggest it could even dust off the Pajero nameplate. It’s set to be revealed next 12 months.
Mitsubishi is known to have stockpiled Pajero Sport SUVs and complied them ahead of the March 1 introduction of ADR 98/00, which explains the way it was capable of deliver 517 units in November and outsell rivals just like the LDV D90, GWM Tank 300 and KGM Rexton.
The Pajero Sport has long been a powerful seller. As a big, ute-based off-road SUV with an available third row of seats, it battles the likes of the Ford Everest, though has traditionally held a bonus in price.
It was launched here in 2015, replacing the also Triton-based Challenger, and has proved a remarkably regular seller. It has received various running changes since launch, though a facelift in 2020 helped tidy up the styling – including refreshed tail-lights that lost the ‘running mascara’ look of the pre-facelift model.
Toyota Granvia
Toyota once had Australia’s best-selling people mover, however the Tarago was an extended time ago.
The Granvia, launched in 2019 to assist fill the gap left by the Tarago, was never popular in Australia.
With ADR 98/00 coming into effect on March 1, 2025, Toyota opted to not trouble making the Granvia compliant with the brand new regulations, arguing it couldn’t make a compelling business case for continuing the model.
From its launch to the top of November 2025, Toyota Australia delivered just 1028 Granvias. For context, Kia delivered 999 Carnivals in November alone.
Not only was the Granvia trounced on the sales charts by the dominant Kia, it was even being outsold by the LM from Toyota’s luxury Lexus brand.
In its best 12 months, 2020, Toyota delivered 276 Granvias. sales data dating back to 1991, even in its worst 12 months the Tarago sold considerably higher.
Those after a Toyota that may seat eight or more occupants now are left with only one option in Australia: the 12-seat HiAce Commuter.
Toyota Fortuner
It’s rare when a Toyota isn’t among the many top three best-sellers in a segment it competes in, which makes the Fortuner’s sales performance in Australia all of the more surprising.
To be fair to the now axed HiLux-based SUV, it competes in the identical large SUV segment because the more sophisticated Prado – traditionally Australia’s best-selling large SUV.
But while the Fortuner offers a cheaper price, it seems most buyers have walked past it in Toyota showrooms and drove out in a Prado as an alternative. Its sales figures, which can be admirable for a vehicle from a less popular brand, have due to this fact long been quite low for a big Toyota SUV.
Toyota’s previous HiLux-based SUV on this segment was the 4Runner, which was axed in 1996. The next generation wasn’t in-built right-hand drive, and Toyota as an alternative switched to offering the LandCruiser Prado here. In 2015, nevertheless, Toyota decided to bring the second-generation Fortuner here as a more cost-effective alternative to the Prado.
Fortuner sales have remained consistent through the years, typically hovering between 2800 and 3900 units annually. There was a slight spike in 2022 to 4614 units, but this was still around half what the Pajero Sport managed that 12 months, and lower than 1 / 4 of the Prado’s tally.
Even in 2024, when Toyota was without Prado stock for several months, Fortuner sales didn’t go up.
The Fortuner remains to be technically going to stay on sale until mid-2026, which is nice news for what Toyota calls its “relatively small but enthusiastic customer base”. However the brand has also acknowledged Fortuner owners have already been shifting into the HiLux, Prado and LandCruiser 300 Series.
Volvo C40
Volvo only launched the C40 – a sleeker, coupe-style sibling to the XC40 – in Australia in 2022, but this 12 months it pulled the plug on the electrical SUV.
The C40 had found itself squeezed out by the arrival of the smaller EX30. In its first full 12 months on sale in Australia, Volvo delivered 1103 examples. But in 2024, sales plummeted by almost half to simply 560 units, directly coinciding with the launch of the EX30.
A considerable update in 2023, which saw single-motor variants switch from front- to rear-wheel drive, couldn’t arrest a sales slide for the small electric coupe SUV.
While Volvo confirmed in 2024 a subtly revised model 12 months 2025 (MY25) update for the C40 was coming, with the SUV to be rechristened EC40 like in overseas markets, this never eventuated. In March, the axe was swung on the C40, though its electric XC40 sibling – renamed EX40 – lives on in Australia.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
