Ford sweeps best car awards

THE first Australian automotive gongs have been handed out for 2004, with Ford emerging as the most successful recipient of this year’s motoring club awards.

Conducted jointly by the NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAASA, RACWA, RACT and RACNT, the awards put the year’s most popular cars through expert examination and 500km of testing to determine Australia’s best cars in 12 categories.

The cars, ranging from small to luxury and 4WDs, were measured against 19 criteria, with each vehicle given a score ranging from five (well above average) to one (well below average) for each.

Judges took into account standard features, interior space, acceleration and braking, safety and security features, interior noise levels, pricing, depreciation, running and repair costs, and fuel consumption.

The scores for each criterion were then subjected to weighting — based on feedback from consumers — to produce the final results, with changes made to two of the subjective criteria this year.

Innovation was replaced by a new environment criterion using ratings supplied by the Federal Government’s Green Vehicle Guide, and based on the environmental Australian Design Rules (ADRs).

In previous years, fuel consumption scores were based on actual on-road consumption, but for 2004 official Federal Government ADR 81/01 fuel consumption figures formed the basis of the fuel economy scores.

Weightings were also applied to account for the fact that some fuels, such as premium unleaded, are more expensive than others.

Ford was the only manufacturer to win three awards, with the locally-built BA MkII Falcon XT sedan winning Best Family Car and the Territory TX AWD – the only other Australian-made winner in the field – claiming Best Recreationalb 4WD.

The Blue Oval’s Fiesta LX hatch also won the Best Small Car award.

2004 BEST CAR WINNERS

Best Small Car:
Ford Fiesta LX hatch
Best Mid-Size Car under $28,000:
Volkswagen Golf Trendline hatch
Best Mid-Size Car over $28,000:
Subaru Liberty 2.5i sedan
Best Family Car:
Ford BA MkII Falcon XT sedan
Best Luxury Car under $57,000:
Honda Accord V6 sedan
Best Luxury Car over $57,000:
Audi A8 3.7 quattro sedan
Best Sports Car under $57,000:
Subaru Impreza WRX sedan
Best Sports Car over $57,000:
Audi S4 sedan
Best People-Mover:
Honda Odyssey Luxury people-mover
Best Recreational 4WD:
Ford Territory XT AWD wagon
Best Luxury 4WD:
Lexus RX330 Sport wagon
Best All-Terrain 4WD:
Toyota Prado GXL wagon