Audi Wins Two `Australia’s Best Car’ Awards
The Audi A8 3.7 quattro has been voted the ‘Best Luxury Car over $57,000’ and has been joined in the winner’s circle by the Audi S4 sedan, voted Australia’s Best Sports Car over $57,000. Australia’s Best Cars (ABC) are the national motoring awards presented each year by the State motoring organisations and provide recommendations for consumers purchasing new vehicles in a range of popular categories. The 2005 Australia’s Best Cars awards represent the second time the Audi A8 3.7 quattro has been voted the top car in the ‘Best Luxury Car over $57,000’ category. The Audi A8 has received many international accolades, from the renowned European Golden Steering Wheel Award for Best Car in the Luxury Class through to first place honours as America’s Best Luxury Car from US publication, AutoWeek. Highlighting the Audi A8’s truly international appeal, the two-time win in the Australia’s Best Cars award is also significant for the vehicle’s positioning in the Australian market, with the A8 3.7 quattro finishing ahead of the BMW 530i and the Mercedes-Benz E320 Elegance in 2004. The Audi S4’s win as ‘Best Sports Car over $57,000’, ahead of the BMW M3 Coupe and Mercedes-Benz SLK 350, is recognition of the superb capabilities of this potent ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ model and proof that its unique combination of style, sporting exclusivity and versatility is perfectly suited to the Australian market. Billed as the ultimate ‘practical sportscar’, the fire-breathing S4 is one of several new models to highlight Audi’s evolving position of luxurious sporty performance in the Australian market. The Australia’s Best Cars awards are judged using a unique, objective scoring system based on an extensive consumer survey of new car buyers and their purchasing priorities. Voting and formal scoring of contenders is conducted by the engineers and vehicle road testers from all state motoring clubs. They also draw on information from other key areas of expertise within each organisation. Participating clubs are RACV, NRMA, RAA, RACWA, RACQ, RACT and AANT. Vehicles are grouped into 12 popular categories in keeping with consumer purchasing preferences and recognised industry classifications. These categories are: Best Small Car The awards are open to all volume-selling new vehicles on the Australian market, not just current year releases. Eligibility is based on general availability within Australia and limited edition models are not considered. The judging panel reserve the right to exclude cars which the panel believes lack consumer relevance or whose value exceeds three times the luxury tax threshold of $57,000. All cars are assessed, scored and ranked on a category scorecard. The contenders are formally scored against 19 to 21 set criteria depending on class. There are three areas of assessment: Value for Money, Design and Function, and On the Road. Four-wheel drives are also scored on 4WD ability, with different weightings for recreational, luxury and all terrain 4WDs. At the cut-off date each year, the top three contenders from each category are assembled for back-to-back road testing and final scoring. The scoring, where possible, is designed to be objective and each score is weighted by its importance to buyers in that segment of the market. The highest scored vehicle in each category receives the Best Cars trophy. |