√Drive Car of The Year 2022: The Winners’ List
From Ferraris to Fords, Havals to Hondas, Drive Car of the Year evaluates without fear or favour, and with just one goal in mind: finding the best new cars to suit all Australian requirements and budgets.
Whether it’s premium SUVs or practical people movers, eco-friendly electric vehicles or scintillating sports cars, we put every car through the same exhaustive and exacting test regime designed to highlight all strengths and weaknesses.
The outcomes of Australia’s toughest testing regime are recommendations you can trust, and winners that should be proud to call themselves among the Drive Car of the Year alumni.
Winning one award is an amazing accomplishment. Winning four awards is incredible, as Ford did this year.
Ford’s Mustang V8 led the way for the Blue Oval, snaring Best Sports Car, while the doughty and dependable Ford Everest won the Best Large Off-road SUV award in its inaugural year.
The diminutive but still impressive Ford Puma won Best Light SUV and at the other end of the scale the ruggedly rapid Ford Ranger Raptor won best Off-road Dual-Cab Ute.
Kia won three awards this year, including a win in the country’s most popular vehicle category. The Kia Sportage is not only a massive step forward on its predecessor, it leapfrogged its Medium SUV competition with class-leading safety and refinement, and a classy cabin that puts some luxury SUVs to shame.
Kia’s extremely practical Carnival won Best People Mover for the third year running, a feat equalled by the BMW 3 Series in the Best Medium Luxury Sedan category.
Kia also took home the Best Value Car category with the sharply-priced and affordable to own Kia Cerato S. It ticks the basic equipment and safety features box, and is the most affordable to buy, insure, refuel and service. Kia’s seven-year warranty adds peace of mind, too.
There were a number of back-to-back winners this year. The Skoda Kamiq backed up its 2021 win in the Best Small SUV category, as did the Volvo XC40 in the Best Small Luxury SUV class.
Isuzu’s tough and reliable D-Max won the Best Dual Cab Ute award for a second time, but this year it shares the award with the Mazda BT-50. Both vehicles were co-developed by Isuzu and Mazda, but pricing increases this year to the D-Max made it impossible for judges to split the two.
Other first time winners include the Hyundai i30 N DCT hot hatch, which saw off a spirited challenge from its smaller brother, the i20 N and the properly rapid and refined Volkswagen Golf GTI.
The Volkswagen Golf did, however, take home the gold medal as Best Small Car, beating the strong-selling Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 hatchbacks with its high-tech interior and polished driving dynamics.
The Skoda Octavia used its space, value and versatility to good advantage to earn the judges’ favour in a hard-fought battle with the Toyota Camry Hybrid and classy Hyundai Sonata.
Arguably the toughest win of Drive Car of the Year went to the Land Rover Defender. This reimagined icon of the offroad scene beat the bookies’ favourite Toyota LandCruiser 300 and incumbent Nissan Patrol not just with its on-road chops but its incredible offroad prowess, proving it is the master of two very different worlds.
A new award introduced this year, Best First Car, is designed to help new car buyers with a budget of $30,000 find a car that has the right reliability and safety credentials plus is affordable to own.
The Toyota Corolla SX is our pick for the Best First Car award. The combination of low running costs, excellent resale value, and more accessible insurance premiums delivered the Toyota Corolla SX the edge in this contest.
The Toyota Corolla SX is also stress-free to drive, feels secure on the road, is comfortable in the daily grind, has good visibility all around, and has most mod-cons covered. It’s big on safety, making it a safe bet in an overcrowded market.
We acknowledge that not all first car buyers have $30K to spend, nor do all young drivers turn to the new car market. For those that fall into the former category, the bank of Mum and Dad sometimes makes this possible, and for the latter, our winner is also available on the second-hand market.
If you want to read more about any of these worthy winners, head to Drive.com.au for a full rundown on each category plus videos of the finalists being put through their paces.
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