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How the awards work

To become a finalist for New Zealand's most recognised motoring award, entrants must meet the criteria set by the AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year voting panel, made up of the country’s finest motoring journalists and the AA.

AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year

To be eligible for the AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year 2018 award, vehicles must have been launched in the 12 month period between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019. 

They must also be either all-new or a new or significantly changed platform, engine or body work.

Voting for Car of the Year

  1. An AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year committee, made up of the country’s finest motoring journalists and the AA, identified the cars that meet criteria for consideration as finalists.
  2. The panel convened on 2 October 2019 to debate and establish the 10 finalists with justification for each selection.
  3. The list of 10 finalists was submitted to AA Motoring management team for ratification, before being announced to the public.
  4. Once the top ten shortlisted cars have been announced, following two days of testing the voting opens up to all judges to select their winner. 
  5. Once voting closes, results are collated by the AA and the winner will be announced at the AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year awards.

People's Choice award

This award is decided entirely by the general public. New Zealanders are able to choose their favourite of the Top 10 shortlisted vehicles for Car of the Year, and the winner determines the People's Choice victor. 

Online voting for the AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year People's Choice award opens to the general public on 28 October 2019 and closes on 30 November 2019. 

Only one vote per person is counted and results are collated by the AA after voting ends, with the winner announced at the awards ceremony. 

Safest Car 

The Safest Car award is awarded to the vehicle with the highest Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) safety rating with results published between 1 October 2018 - 30 September 2019.

Best in Class categories

Any new car still available for sale in the New Zealand market as of 30 September 2019, is eligible to win in its AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year Best in Class category. 

For that reason, winners from previous years may win a Best in Class 2018 award. 

The full list of Best in Class categories are below:

  • Micro/light car
  • Small/compact car
  • Medium/large car
  • Luxury car
  • Small SUV
  • Medium SUV
  • Large SUV
  • Luxury SUV
  • Utility
  • Sports coupe and convertible
  • Electric vehicle/plug-in hybrid