With such a great selection of all types of motor vehicles on the Australian market and with new models being launched each year, it can be a challenge for buyers to know which are the best cars available. That process is made easier each year with a number of awards-style programs conducted by experts in the motoring field.
Carsales conduct their annual Best Cars program to assist new car buyers identify what their expert team consider the best on the market. The program covers a large number of categories including the Best First Car, Best Small, Mid-sized, Family and Off-road SUVs, Best Hot Hatch, Best EV and Best Dual Cab Ute. The ultimate category is the Best Car overall for that year.
Some of the winners in these categories were announced earlier in the year. But with the supply issues in the new car market, actually buying a new car has been a challenge for many buyers. With supply issues now starting to ease as mentioned by the FCAI, we thought it timely to revisi the best cars winners to assist those buyers that are now genuinely in the market for a new car.
The carsales team have been hard at work testing and comparing after narrowing the contenders down to the finalists and the winners have been announced for some of the categories so far. We’re catching you up with what is known so far so buyers can start test-driving the best cars and talking finance.
Winners for 2022
All awards-style programs have their criteria as to which, in this case cars, are eligible for each category. Then they have their judging guidelines and usually a panel of judges. In the case of these carsales Car of the Year awards, we recommend reviewing these details to fully understand why the winners were selected.
In the Best First Car category, contenders must be under the $30,000 price threshold and meet the other specific criteria. The Mazda 3 was announced the winner in this category against a strong field of contenders which included – Hyundai i30, Kia Rio, Mazda 2, Kia Cerato, Yaris and Corolla from Toyota, Suzuki’s Swift and the Subaru Impreza.
Best Small SUV was announced earlier in the year with the Hyundai Kona Highlander the winner. Others in contention included a Seltos and Stonic from Kia, Mazda’s very popular CX-3 Akari LE AWD and their CX-30, Mitsubishi’s ASX and Eclipse Cross and Toyotas Yaris Cross and C-HR amongst quite a few others.
For those requiring something slightly bigger, check out the contenders of the Best Mid-sized SUV award. The experts considered the Kia Sportage the best when judged against the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Haval H6, very popular Mazda CX-5, top selling Toyota RAV4 and the Subaru Forester with others also in contention.
Needing to take the whole family in your SUV? Then the winner of the Best Family SUV, the Kia Sorento could be the purchase for you. The Sorento took the gong when judged against other models including the Hyunda Santa Fe, Toyota Kluger, Mazda Cx-9 and CX-8 and the VW Tiguan.
Best Off Road SUV announced back in March and prospective buyers should read the criteria for this category as some models were ruled out of contention for various reasons. Winner for best was decided as the Land Rover Defender 110 from an impressive field of contenders.
Best EV will likely attract a lot of attention as the sales of EVs and hybrids have been posting increased results over the past few months. The Tesla Model 3 was considered the best from a field which included Kia EV6, Lexus UX 300e, Mini Electric, Nissan Leaf, Polestar 2 and a number of others.
Pricing is still a major barrier for many buyers to get into the EV market but upcoming changes to tariffs may bring pricing down. Sourcing the cheapest commercial car loan rates can also make EVs a more affordable option for many buyers.
Best Overall Car of the Year for 2022 was announced in November as the Kia EV6.
Finance for the Best Cars
Buying what experts consider one of the best cars released this year can be an affordable option when motor vehicle finance at the cheapest rates is achieved. Interest rates have been on the rise as the RBA has increased the cash rates for the past 8 months. Giving rise to potentially even greater rate variations in car loans. We assist buyers find the cheapest rate from across our vast lender panel.
Business buyers considering EVs can also look to upcoming tax and tariff changes to make for a more affordable purchase. These changes including to FBT can make Salary Sacrificing an attractive option for EVs. We assist businesses and employees with this through Novated Vehicle Leasing.
To get rough repayment estimates on a loan for any of the best cars as judged by carsales, use our finance calculator or simply contact us for a confirmed quote.
Contact Jade Car Loans at 1300 000 003 for finance on the best cars on the market.
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.
