29 April

Cars of the Year Revealed

The highly respected motoring experts at Drive have revealed their annual list of Car of the Year across several key categories. A list that is sure to generate robust debate amongst car enthusiasts and give buyers a guide to what these experts consider is the best in class. If you don’t feel you have the confidence or the ability to compare vehicles when buying, taking notes from what these experts consider the best vehicles in each category may be of great assistance to you.

In this article, we take a look at the finalists and winners in passenger and SUV categories with other articles focussing on sports and commercial categories. We also provide loan options for how you could be driving your own 2021 car of the year.

Category Winners

In judging these awards, the team at Drive cover new vehicles across seven categories. They narrow their selection down to three finalists per category before deciding on a winner in each category. Then those seven are in the running for the top gong. The categories cover a wide range of vehicles so you should be able to find a winner in the category you’re considering.

The awards also cover multiple other classes – passenger cars, SUVs, light commercials and sports cars. So plenty for potential buyers to consider.

Here are the category finalists and winners:-

Passenger Cars

While SUVs have surged in popularity, the classic passenger car is still the vehicle of choice for many buyers. The awards cover small through large and standard through luxury to give you plenty of food for thought.

  • City Car finalists were VW Pothe lo, Kia Rio and Suzuki Swift with the Polo the judges’ choice as the winner. These are cars under $20,000 so some good contenders for the budget-minded buyer.
  • Small car finalists Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla Hybrid and Hyundai i30. The Corolla took the winner’s podium for 2021. Great for practicality and fuel efficiency.
  • Luxury small car finalists make an impressive line-up of German engineering excellence with the Mercedes-Benz A Class, BMW 1 Series and Audi A3. Winner- Audi A3. If you’re wondering how much extra per month in loan repayments a little extra luxury may cost you, use our loan calculator to compare city v luxury small car finalists.
  • The medium to large category finalists were the Skoda Superb, Kia Stinger and the classic Toyota Camry. The best in this category was judged as the Camry Hybrid. Sales across this category have dropped in recent years with a spike in the popularity of SUVs. But for many, this is still the ideal vehicle type for their needs.
  • From the standard mediums to the luxury medium we find Audi A5 and the BMW 3 Series vying for a podium finish with BMW pipping the Audi at the post.
  • At the top of the size, large luxury category, a quite competitive field no doubt caught the judges’ eyes with the Genesis G80, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-class making the finals. The eventual winner- the A6. This category is executive vehicle territory and with tax measures on the table, check out our cheap interest rates across the commercial finance products.
  • People movers are popular with families as well as hire cars, tourist and travel operators and community and sports groups. The finalists in this category were Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Toyota Granvia and Kia Carnival.

SUVs

This vehicle category has grown enormously in recent times and manufacturers have responded to the market, or is it the market responding to manufacturers, with most including at least one if not several SUVs in their line-up.

So much so that the awards include 11 categories of SUVs:-

  • Light SUVs are now giving small cars a run in the popularity stakes and finalists were Ford Puma, Hyundai Venue and VW T-cross with the winner judged as the blue Oval’s Puma.
  • Small SUVs differ from light with finalists in this category the Kia Seltos, Skoda Karniq and Mazda CX-30. Winner – the Skoda.
  • Medium SUVs suit a lot of buyers and the market is vast and competitive. The winner, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid was chosen from fellow finalists Mazda CX-5 and VW Tiguan.
  • For that little extra, there is the medium luxury category with finalists BMW X3, Volvo XC60 and Land Rover Discovery Sport with the winner – Volvo.
  • In the upper large category, the Nissan Patrol came out a winner against fellow finalist Toyota Landcruiser.
  • Large SUV differs from the upper large with finalists in this category – Skoda Kodiaq, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento with the Kia taking it out.
  • Large luxury takes it to another level with finalists VW Toureg, Genesis GV80 and BMW X5 with the VW considered the winner.
  • Upper Large Luxury SUV: This category includes SUVs with three rows of seats and 7 seaters. The finalists were BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS with Merc prevailing as the winner.
  • Small luxury finalists were Audi Q3, Volvo XC 40 and the Mercedes-Benz GLA. Winner – Volvo!
  • Not all SUVs have off-road serious capabilities so the off-road SUVs have their category in the awards. Finalists: Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger and Land Rover Defender. Winner: Land Rover.
  • Sports SUVs also have their category with finalists including Audi RS Q8, Porsche Macan and BMW X5 M with Porsche winning from this field of German manufacturers.

Electric Vehicles

Australia has been slow on the uptake of EVs but the segment is growing and has its category in the awards. The finalists were the Audi e-tron, MG ZS EV and Tesla Model 3. Winner – Audi.

Overall Car of the Year

So after all those individual categories and multiple vehicles to consider the Drive judges have awarded the Kia Sorento as their 2021 car of the year. You can check out the judges’ assessment and reasons for their decisions at www.drive.com.au

Securing Your COTY

These awards give buyers a great way to compare what experts consider the best in class. Jade Car Loans gives you the tools to compare repayments across categories, models and winners. Simply enter the vehicle price in the loan amount as we can offer no deposit finance, and see the repayment estimates.

Our most popular loan categories include:-

We don’t judge ‘winners’ in our loan categories as finance is selected to specifically suit the buyer. Whether it’s a standard car loan or a low doc business car loan, our consultants individually negotiate the cheapest car loan deal for each of our customers. To find out what your cheap repayments will be on one of the awards finalists or winners, contact us for a quote.

Contact 1300 000 003 for a quote on a car of the year winner or finalist.   

DISCLAIMER: IN REGARD TO MISREPRESENTATIONS AND ERRORS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIAL AS PRESENTED, LIABILITY IS NOT ACCEPTED. THE DETAILS AND CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR CAR BUYERS AND INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESS SEEKING FINANCE PURELY AS GENERAL INFORMATION. THIS IS NOT PROVIDED AS THE ONLY SOURCE OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION. ANYONE THAT CONSIDERS THAT NEED FINANCIAL ADVICE ABOUT THEIR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS SHOULD SEEK THEIR OWN FINANCIAL ADVISOR.

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