Best Small Cars in Australia 2027: One Pick Per Question, From 162 Hatches and Sedans

Small cars got interesting again. The lowest drive-away price in this guide now belongs to an electric car, four new small electric hatches have landed since April, and some familiar names have left. This is the 2027 edition of our 2026 small car guide, rebuilt from our directory on 11 November 2026, and it's different in one big way: the 2026 page mixed hatches with light SUVs, and this one sticks to hatches and sedans. SUVs have their own small SUV guide.

The other difference: the 2026 page is the buy-now list, and this one looks a year ahead. Only one small hatch or sedan on sale is already a 2027 model in our directory, the Kia Picanto Sport Automatic, so the 2027 story here is mostly who has left and who is arriving: the GR Corolla GRMN, Geely's Emgrand L EM-i plug-in sedan and the NIO Firefly, all covered in the arrivals section below.

There's no single “best small car”, because the answer changes with the question. Each pick below answers one buyer question, and the answer is a query across the small hatches and sedans on sale in our directory. Where a figure was measured differently from its rivals, we say so and don't rank it. The facts, side by side. Your decision.

The picks at a glance

One row per question. The winning figure is from our row for that car on 11 November 2026, with its basis. RRP is before on-road costs; drive-away includes them (Victoria). The detail and the runners-up follow below.

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6 of them on 200+ specs, price, safety and running cost in one view.

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Kia Picanto Sport

$19,190 RRPas at 6 Sep 2026

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Kia Picanto Sport Automatic

$20,790 RRPas at 4 Nov 2026

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BYD Atto 1 Essential

$23,990 RRPas at 16 Sep 2026

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Geely EX2 Complete

$26,490 RRPas at 4 Oct 2026

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Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport

$28,990 RRPas at 4 Oct 2026

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Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor

$66,400 RRPas at 4 Nov 2026

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Each price is that car's stored figure with its basis and check date. Driva is an independent finance provider, not part of CarSorted. We aren't paid for this link.

How we sorted the list

What counts as a small car. A hatchback, sedan, liftback or fastback on sale new in Australia and no longer than 4,710 mm. That keeps the i30 Sedan and K4 sedan (4,710 mm) and Octavia sedan (4,698 mm), and leaves out the BMW 3 Series (4,713 mm), Tesla Model 3 (4,720 mm) and Kia EV4 (4,730 mm). We don't use a “segment” label because most of our rows don't carry one. The Giulia, G70, Polestar 2 and Peugeot 408 are usually sold as mid-size or premium cars but fall inside the line, so they stay in. That gives 162 rows, 49 nameplates and 26 makes.

What's left out. SUVs, including the Yaris Cross, Ignis and Inster (they're in the small SUV guide), and wagons. Five rows with no length on record whose nameplates sit over the line or have no length at all (three C-Class rows, the Audi RS 5 and the EQS). And 45 performance rows, from the GR Yaris to the A45 S, which get their own section and are never ranked on price. That leaves 117 rows, 40 nameplates and 25 makes for the picks, with no plug-in hybrid among them.

Prices. An RRP is before on-road costs and a drive-away price includes them, so we never rank one against the other. RRP picks use only figures whose source on our row is the manufacturer: 72 of the 112 RRP figures. Held back: the MG3 rows, which carry MG's advertised drive-away offer in the RRP column; the Honda Super-ONE, which Honda prices on drive-away only; and any RRP marked “est.”. Drive-away prices are Victorian, from the 49 rows that hold one.

Fuel and range. Fuel is ranked on one label standard: 89 of the 96 non-electric rows. Six MINI Cooper grades and the CUPRA Leon S quote a WLTP figure, so they're shown and not ranked. Electric range is ranked inside the WLTP test only. The fuel-efficiency guide explains the label standards.

Safety. We show the ANCAP result our row holds, with its year: 71 of the 117 rows hold one, and 49 are five stars. A blank is “no data”, never a guess. Results expire after six years, so the year matters (ANCAP explained). Nothing here is called the “safest”: we don't have the scores to rank that fairly.

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Cheapest small cars: RRP, drive-away and automatic

1. Cheapest on a published RRP: Kia Picanto Sport, $19,190

The Picanto Sport is $19,190 before on-road costs on Kia's own price feed, the lowest manufacturer-sourced RRP in the set. It's a 62 kW 1.2-litre manual, 5.4 L/100km, with a 255-litre boot and a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Our row holds no ANCAP result, so it shows “no data”. Next on RRP: the Picanto Sport Automatic ($20,790), Picanto GT-Line ($22,590), BYD Atto 1 Essential ($23,990) and Geely EX2 Complete ($26,490). The MG3 Vibe's $20,990 is MG's drive-away offer, so it isn't ranked here.

Our take: the Picanto is the lowest sticker on a published RRP, but by the time you add on-road costs it lands close to the Atto 1's drive-away offer. If you're choosing between them, compare like with like: get a drive-away quote for the Picanto in your postcode. Atto 1 vs Picanto.

2. Cheapest drive-away: BYD Atto 1 Essential, $19,990

The Atto 1 Essential is $19,990 drive-away in Victoria, the lowest of the 49 drive-away figures. BYD says that's an offer from 15 September to 15 December 2026; the RRP stays $23,990. It's a 65 kW electric hatch with a 30 kWh battery, 220 km of range (test not named in our record), a 308-litre boot and five stars from 2025. Next on drive-away: the Dolphin Essential at $28,888 (another BYD offer to 15 December), the Mazda2 G15 Evolve hatch at $28,990 and the Swift Hybrid Plus at $29,490. Atto 1 price story.

Our take: the offer has an end date. 220 km suits a city run with home charging; for regular long trips, look at the Premium (310 km, $27,990 RRP) or a hybrid. Atto 1 vs Swift | Atto 1 vs MG3.

MORE: Every electric car under $30,000, ranked

3. Cheapest automatic: Kia Picanto Sport Automatic, $20,790

Want two pedals? The Picanto Sport Automatic is $20,790 RRP, with a four-speed automatic and 6.0 L/100km, against the manual's 5.4. Here's a fact that shows how the market has moved: among the 117 non-performance small car rows in our directory, the Picanto Sport is the only manual. Every other one is an automatic of some kind, from CVTs and dual-clutch gearboxes to the single-speed drive electric cars use. On drive-away pricing, the cheapest two-pedal small car is the Atto 1 Essential above.

Our take: if you want a manual, you're now mostly shopping performance cars. The GR Yaris, GR Corolla, i20 N, i30 N, WRX and Civic Type R all offer one (section below).

Five-star small cars on record

4. Cheapest five-star on a published RRP: BYD Atto 1 Essential, $23,990

Of the 117 rows, 49 hold a five-star ANCAP result. The cheapest on a manufacturer-sourced RRP is the Atto 1 Essential at $23,990 (2025), then the Geely EX2 Complete at $26,490 (2026) and the Atto 1 Premium at $27,990 (2025), all electric. For petrol or hybrid power, the Yaris Ascent Sport hybrid holds five stars (2020) at $28,990 RRP, and the Skoda Fabia Select five stars (2021) at $29,990 drive-away. Our Fabia row also holds $27,990 as an RRP without naming its source, so we don't rank it.

One date to know: our record shows the Yaris rating expiring on 31 December 2026. After that it lapses unless ANCAP rates the car again, and we'll update the rows and this guide. That's about the rating's six-year life, not about the car changing.

Our take: five stars is a good filter to start with, but check the year: a 2025 result was tested against tougher protocols than a 2020 one. “No data” (the Picanto, Mazda2, Mazda3 and Corolla on our rows) means we hold no current result, not that the car failed. Atto 1 vs Yaris.

How a spread of popular small cars sit on ANCAP and price, read live from our rows:

Below five stars on our rows: three stars for the Hyundai i30 Sedan (2024), Suzuki Swift (2024) and MG 5 (2025); four stars for the MG3 (2025), the Kia K4 S Sedan (2025), the BMW 1 Series (2025), the Peugeot 308 and 408 (2022) and the Fiat 500e (2021). The K4's Sport grades and up hold five stars (2025).

Fuel, hybrids and electric small cars

5. Lowest fuel use: Toyota Yaris hybrid, 3.5 L/100km

The three Yaris grades (Ascent Sport, SX and ZR) are rated at 3.5 L/100km combined, the lowest of the 89 ranked figures. Next: the Corolla sedan hybrid and i30 Sedan hybrid at 3.9, then the Corolla hatch hybrid and the Suzuki Swift (a 1.2-litre mild hybrid) at 4.0. The lowest plain petrol figure is the Fiat 500's 4.8, ahead of the Mazda2 at 5.0. The MINI Cooper's 6.0 to 6.3 is a WLTP figure, so it isn't ranked.

Our take: the Yaris is a small, light car with a full hybrid system, and the label figure shows it. If you need a bigger boot, the Corolla sedan (471 litres) gets within 0.4 L/100km of it. Swift vs Yaris | K4 vs Corolla sedan.

6. One of the cheapest full hybrids on a published RRP: Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport, $28,990

Fourteen rows are full hybrids. On a manufacturer-sourced RRP, one of the cheapest is the Yaris Ascent Sport at $28,990, then the Yaris SX at $32,390 and the i30 Sedan 1.6 Hybrid at $33,250 (three stars from 2024, 474-litre boot). MG advertises the MG3 Excite Hybrid+ at $27,990, but that's a drive-away offer, so it isn't in an RRP ranking. Our Corolla prices aren't yet re-verified against Toyota's list, so they're in the table only. Among mild hybrids, the Swift Hybrid Plus is $29,490 drive-away.

Our take: a hybrid earns its keep in stop-start city driving. On our own sum, the gap between 3.5 and 6.0 L/100km is worth about $750 a year at 15,000 km and $2 a litre (2.5 litres x 150 x $2). MG3 vs Yaris.

MORE: The 2027 hybrid guide, with every powertrain kept apart

7. Cheapest electric: BYD Atto 1 Essential

Twenty-one rows are electric. The Atto 1 Essential is the cheapest on both bases: $23,990 RRP and $19,990 drive-away on BYD's offer. Next on RRP: the Geely EX2 Complete at $26,490 (252 km WLTP, five stars 2026, seven-year warranty), the Atto 1 Premium at $27,990 and the Dolphin Essential at $29,990 (340 km, test not named, five stars 2023). The EX2 Inspire is $30,990 with 345 km WLTP, and the Aion UT Premium $31,990 with 430 km WLTP and an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Our take: under $32,000 RRP you can now pick small electric hatches from BYD, Geely, GWM and GAC. They differ more on range and warranty than on price. Dolphin vs Aion UT | Dolphin vs MG4.

8. Among the longest electric ranges on WLTP: Polestar 2, 659 km; under $35,000, GAC Aion UT, 430 km

Eleven of the 21 electric rows name the WLTP test. Among the longest is the Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor at 659 km (Polestar's Australian page prints it as WLTP), $66,400 RRP, five stars (2021). Next is the Leapmotor B05 Design LR at 482 km, with five stars (2026); it launched at $38,990 drive-away on an offer that ran to 30 September 2026, so get a current price. Then the MG4 Essence 64 at 452 km. Under $35,000 on a published RRP, among the longest is the GAC Aion UT Premium at 430 km for $31,990, read on GAC's Australian page on 5 November 2026. The Dolphin Premium (427 km) and MINI Cooper SE (400 km) name no test in our record, so they aren't ranked.

Our take: WLTP is a lab number; highway speeds and hot or cold weather take a chunk off it, so leave a margin. Dolphin vs B05 | Aion UT vs B05 | Polestar 2 vs Model 3.

Ways to buy

For the 4 cars on this page.

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Manufacturer offer

2026 Geely EX2 Complete

Bonus

$1,000put toward your deposit by the manufacturer

Ends 14 Nov 2026

$1,000 Factory Bonus on EX2

Maker's terms: While stock lasts.

View offerOn our deals page

Offer terms and source

Finance

From ≈$66/wk(≈$284/mo)

Estimate on the Kia Picanto at $19,190 RRP, before on-road costs; assumes $5,000 deposit, 5 yrs at 7.5% p.a.. Not a quote or an offer of credit.

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Novated lease

Electric, with an RRP under the $91,661 fuel-efficient LCT threshold (2026-27): under the ATO's electric cars exemption a novated lease of an eligible electric car attracts no FBT if luxury car tax was never payable on it. The benefit is still reportable.

Lease the BYD Atto 1

Space, size, warranty and running costs

9. Among the biggest boots in class: Skoda Octavia sedan, 600 litres

The three non-RS Octavia sedan grades hold 600 litres, among the most of the 116 rows with a boot figure. Next: the K4 sedan and Peugeot 408 at 508, the Giulia at 480 and the i30 Sedan at 474. Among hatchbacks, the Skoda Scala holds 467 litres but ends with MY26 stock, so the lasting hatch answer is the Kia K4 hatch at 438. The Fiat 500 and 500e hold 185. Our $39,990 RRP for the Octavia 110TSI isn't re-verified; the Octavia Select Hybrid is $43,990 drive-away on Skoda's own page.

Our take: a small sedan often beats a small SUV on boot volume, it's just a longer, lower opening. If you carry prams or golf bags, measure the opening, not just the litres. Octavia vs Corolla sedan | i30 Sedan vs K4.

10. Longest warranty: MG, 10 years or 250,000 km

Nine rows, all MG, sit at 10 years or 250,000 km: the MG3, MG4, MG4 Urban and MG 5. GAC is next at eight years with no kilometre limit on the Aion UT. In all, 33 of the 117 rows sit at seven years or more, including Kia, Skoda, GWM's ORA and Geely with no kilometre limit. Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Subaru sit at five on our rows. Electric cars add a battery warranty, usually eight years on our rows (seven on the MG4 range).

Our take: the headline number comes with terms, some tied to servicing, so read the manufacturer's warranty page before you count on it.

11. Easiest to park: Fiat 500, 3,571 mm and a 9.3 m turning circle

The 2026 edition's “city parking” pick, as two numbers. The shortest car in the set is the Fiat 500 Dolcevita at 3,571 mm, then the Honda Super-ONE (3,582 mm) and Picanto (3,595 mm). The tightest turning circle, of the 101 rows holding one, is also the Fiat 500 at 9.3 m (the 500e matches it), then the Picanto at 9.4 m. The Fiat 500 is $28,900 RRP on Fiat's price calculator, with no ANCAP result on our row.

Our take: with tight street parking, a few hundred millimetres and half a metre of turning circle matter daily. The Super-ONE is the electric option at this size (202 km, 162-litre boot). Best cars for city driving.

12. Among the most power for under $40,000: 150 kW, from $31,990

We haven't driven these cars, so the 2026 “best to drive” pick becomes a power figure. Among rows with a manufacturer-sourced RRP under $40,000 in this set, three share a top figure of 150 kW: the GAC Aion UT Premium at $31,990, the BYD Dolphin Premium at $36,990 and the Hyundai i30 Sedan N Line at $37,000. The Leapmotor B05 has 160 kW, but its $35,990 launch drive-away offer ended on 30 September 2026. Power isn't handling: a test drive is how you judge that.

13. Lowest five-year capped servicing on record: GWM ORA, $685

We don't hold sourced reliability data, so the 2026 “most reliable” pick is gone. What we do hold is the manufacturer's five-year capped-price servicing total, on 50 of the 117 rows. The lowest is the electric GWM ORA at $685. Among petrol and hybrid cars, the Toyota Yaris and Corolla rows show $1,325. The MG4 Urban shows $1,366 and the MG4 $1,380.

Our take: capped servicing caps the scheduled service price, not tyres, brakes or wipers. It's still a fair way to compare the predictable part.

Performance hatches and sedans: their own list

Forty-five rows are performance models: in the set, out of the price picks, because ranking a Civic Type R against a Picanto tells you nothing. Here they are with power, gearbox and price. Want a manual? The GR Yaris, GR Corolla, i30 N, i30 Sedan N and WRX offer one, and the i20 N, Civic Type R and Abarth 695 come only as manuals on our rows. The most powerful hatchback in the set is the electric MG4 XPower at 320 kW; the most powerful car of any body is the Giulia Quadrifoglio Estrema at 382 kW.

On manufacturer-sourced prices: the i20 N is $37,500 RRP (Hyundai), the WRX Sedan Manual $48,890 (Subaru), the i30 N Manual $52,500 (Hyundai) and the GR Yaris GT Manual $55,490 (Toyota). Honda sells the Type R on drive-away pricing at $85,000; our story on Type R orders reopening has the allocation detail. Coming next is Toyota's GR Corolla GRMN (see 2027 below).

Our take: these cars are bought with the heart, so we won't pretend a table settles it. Use the numbers to narrow the list, then drive the two you can't separate. GR Yaris vs Golf | Type R vs GR Corolla.

Prices by powertrain

Every non-performance nameplate in the set, mostly at its entry grade, grouped by what powers it. RRP is before on-road costs; drive-away includes them (Victoria). “est.” marks an RRP our record holds as an estimate for a manufacturer that sells on drive-away. The fuel column is the combined label figure, or energy use for electric cars. The tables read our rows live, so a price change shows up here when we record it.

Petrol

Mild hybrid

Hybrid

Electric

Plug-in hybrid

None. No small hatch or sedan in our directory is a plug-in hybrid as at 11 November 2026. The closest is the Geely Emgrand L EM-i sedan, due in the first half of 2027 (below). For plug-ins, see the plug-in hybrid SUV guide.

“MG offer, see note”: MG advertises the MG3 at drive-away prices, and our MG3 rows hold that offer in the RRP column, so we don't print it as an RRP. Honda publishes drive-away prices only. “not named” in the test cycle column means our record doesn't say which test the range was measured on, so don't compare it with a WLTP figure. Prices and specifications are from the manufacturers' Australian documents as held in our directory on 11 November 2026; many prices are not yet re-verified by us.

What happened to Best to Drive, Most Reliable, Resale and Cutest?

The 2026 edition had four picks this one doesn't, and here's why. Best to drive needs someone to have driven the cars, and we haven't driven any car in this guide, so it's become the power figure in pick 12. Most reliable needs reliability data from a source we can name, and we hold none; warranty and capped servicing (picks 10 and 13) are what we can show. Resale value needs sourced depreciation figures, and none of the 117 rows holds one yet; the depreciation calculator runs your own assumptions. Cutest is taste, not a figure. The Fiat 500, MINI Cooper and Super-ONE are in the tables if retro is your thing.

Running costs: work out your own

On our assumptions (15,000 km a year, $2.00 a litre, $0.30 a kWh at home), the Yaris at 3.5 L/100km costs about $1,050 a year in fuel, the K4 S hatch at 6.1 about $1,830, and the Atto 1 Essential at 15.5 kWh/100km about $700. Public fast charging costs more, so run your own numbers below. Label figures, not your real-world use.

Cars in this story

7 cars

2026 Kia Picanto Sport

$19,190 RRPas at 6 Sep 2026

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2027 Kia Picanto Sport Automatic

$20,790 RRPas at 4 Nov 2026

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2026 BYD Atto 1 Essential

$23,990 RRPas at 16 Sep 2026

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2026 Geely EX2 Complete

$26,490 RRPas at 4 Oct 2026

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2026 Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport

$28,990 RRPas at 4 Oct 2026

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2026 Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor

$66,400 RRPas at 4 Nov 2026

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Overseas model shown

2026 Leapmotor B05 Design LR

$35,990 RRP

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Price shown is each car's stored figure with its basis and check date. Images: Overseas model shown. Image: Leapmotor.

See all Kia models

Small car vs small SUV: the same manufacturer, side by side

The fairest way to compare a small car with a small SUV is to take one manufacturer's pair, priced from the same list. Two pairs in our directory make it easy.

In both pairs the hatch is cheaper ($2,800 less for the Yaris, $2,850 for the Mazda3) and uses less fuel (0.3 and 0.4 L/100km less), while the SUV has the bigger boot (120 litres more for the Yaris Cross, 22 for the CX-30). The Mazdas share a 114 kW engine. The SUVs also sit you higher, which plenty of buyers want. And there's more choice on that side: 147 SUV rows across 45 nameplates at 4,400 mm or shorter.

Our take: pick the body for the job. A hatch for cost and fuel, a small SUV for seat height and boot. The small SUV guide runs the same kind of picks on the other side. K4 vs Mazda3 | Mazda3 vs Corolla.

What changed since the 2026 edition

The 2026 edition was first published in April. A lot has moved since. Here's what's different, from our rows and the manufacturers' own announcements.

• New: GAC Aion UT. From $31,990 RRP, 430 km WLTP, five stars (2026). Premium | launch story.
• New: Leapmotor B05. Launched from $35,990 drive-away on an offer that ran to 30 September 2026, up to 482 km WLTP. Style | launch story.
• New: Geely EX2. $26,490 and $30,990 RRP, 252 and 345 km WLTP, five stars (2026). Inspire | launch story.
• New: Honda Super-ONE. $36,900 drive-away, 202 km, and at 3,582 mm the shortest electric car in the set. Price story.
• Price: BYD Atto 1 Essential $19,990 drive-away, 15 September to 15 December 2026; RRP still $23,990.
• Price: BYD Dolphin Essential $28,888 drive-away over the same window (story).
• Line-up: Hyundai i30 Sedan. The Active grade the 2026 edition quoted is marked discontinued; the entry grade we hold is the i30 2.0 MPi at $30,000 RRP (Hyundai list price).
• Line-up: MG4. The Excite 51 and 64 are superseded; we hold the Essence 64, XPower and MG4 Urban on sale.
• Price list: Mazda3. Mazda's list of 27 October 2026 puts the G20 Pure hatch and sedan at $31,910 RRP.

Small cars that have left, or are leaving

We only call a car dropped when our rows or the manufacturer say so. Since the 2026 edition, our rows mark the Hyundai i30 hatch's non-N grades discontinued, leaving the i30 N as the only i30 hatch we hold on sale. Skoda Australia has said the Scala ends with MY26 stock (Scala story), and our CUPRA Born row is now marked discontinued. One never arrived: Hyundai Australia said on 2 October 2026 it won't import the Ioniq 3 electric hatch.

Older names our directory holds as discontinued, with the last model year we hold: Kia Rio (2022), Kia Cerato (2024), Suzuki Baleno (2022), Honda Jazz and Honda City (2020), Mitsubishi Mirage (2022), Peugeot 208 (2024), Citroen C3 (2024) and Ford Focus (2022). Their pages still show the car as it was when new, which helps if you're buying used.

Our take: the cheap end of the small car market used to be Rio, Mirage, Baleno and Jazz. In 2026 it's Picanto, MG3, Swift and a handful of electric hatches from BYD, Geely, GAC and MG. If you're trading in one of the old names, that's the field you're now shopping.

Coming in 2027: confirmed and reported

Two lists. Confirmed means the manufacturer has said so on its own Australian site, in an Australian release, or through an executive on the record. Reported means it's in the motoring press but the manufacturer hasn't confirmed it for Australia. None of these is on sale, so none is in the picks, and none has an Australian price yet.

The GR Corolla GRMN is a two-seat GR Corolla with 221 kW and 408 Nm, which Toyota says is 40 kg lighter than the manual GR Corolla (2027 month by month). The Emgrand L EM-i would be the first plug-in hybrid in this guide's set if it fits the line: Geely quotes an 18.4 kWh battery, 80 km-plus of WLTP electric range and a 528-litre boot for an overseas model, and no Australian dimensions yet (Geely story, 2027 hybrids). The Firefly is a 4,003 mm electric hatch NIO said would launch here in 2026; it isn't on sale in our directory yet (Firefly story). BMW's i3 sedan is 4,760 mm on our row, so it's outside this guide (2027 EVs).

Two are only reported. A new i30 Sedan is reported for the first half of 2027; our coming-soon row holds 4,765 mm, just past our line, so we'll revisit when Hyundai Australia publishes figures. Toyota says its next-generation hybrid targets more than 15% better fuel economy, without naming the Corolla, a date or Australian plans. Overseas, VW has revealed the ID. Polo and CUPRA the Raval, neither confirmed for Australia.

MORE: Every electric car due in 2027, with range and charging

What could change these picks

The BYD offers on the Atto 1 and Dolphin end on 15 December 2026 unless BYD extends them, which would move the cheapest drive-away pick to the next figure in our table. Our record shows the Yaris's 2020 ANCAP rating expiring on 31 December 2026. The Emgrand L EM-i would add the first plug-in hybrid to the set if its Australian length fits the line, the Firefly would add another small electric hatch once NIO prices it, and the GRMN joins the performance list. We'll update this article when any of these happen, or when a price we quote changes.

How to choose a small car: five checks

1. Compare on one basis. Get a drive-away quote for each car on your list, in your postcode.
2. Check the ANCAP year. Ratings run six years and the tests got harder over that time.
3. Match fuel or range to your week. Run your commute through the calculator above.
4. Measure what you carry. Manufacturers measure boots in different ways, so take the pram or suitcase along.
5. Drive the shortlist. The figures narrow it; a test drive tells you about the seat and the ride. See our learner driver and under $30k guides.

Keep reading

Head-to-heads: Atto 1 vs Picanto | Picanto vs MG3 | Picanto vs Swift | MG3 vs Swift | Mazda2 vs Swift | Fabia vs Polo | K4 vs Corolla | K4 vs Golf | i30 Sedan vs K4

The brands: Kia | BYD | Toyota | Mazda | MG | Hyundai | Suzuki | Geely | GAC | Leapmotor | Honda | Skoda | Volkswagen | Polestar | Fiat

Reviews: BYD Dolphin | MG4 | MG3 | Mazda3 | Corolla | i30 | Civic

More guides: Best Small Cars (2026) | Best Small SUVs (2026) | Most Fuel-Efficient Cars (2027) | Best Hybrid Cars (2027) | Cheapest Electric Cars (2026) | EV charging guide