Falcon tops Best Cars awards again

FORD’S BA Falcon has been selected as the best family car on the market for the second year running by Australia's Best Cars awards, which is conducted jointly by state motoring organisations.

The BA beat out the Series II VY Commodore to take the award and was the only Australian-made car among the 12 category winners.

The cars were judged on 19 criteria with the categories weighted according to what market research showed buyers of each class of car were looking for.

Comfort, space, security and safety were the most important factors in the family car class.

"It is an honour to receive this endorsement from Australia's automotive clubs," said Ford Australia president Geoff Polites.

"This award represents recognition for the efforts of everyone at Ford Australia in producing the finest Falcon to roll off the Broadmeadows assembly line." Among other winners the Mazda RX8 and the Subaru Impreza WRX tied for top sports car, the first tie in the four-year history of the awards.

Luxury brands Lexus and Audi recorded their first wins in the awards while Subaru picked up three awards and Toyota two.

The Subaru Forester won the recreational four-wheel-drive category, making it the only car to have won its category every year since the ABC awards began in 2000.

Best sports car over $57,000 went to the BMW M3 for the third year.

Winners for the second consecutive year in a row, apart from Falcon, were the Mazda6 Classic as best mid-size car and Toyota Avensis GLX as best people-mover.

Among winners of other classes, the Hyundai Getz GL three-door was named the best small car, and the BMW M3 won the award for best sports car over $57,000 for the third straight year.

Class winners:

Best Small Car
Hyundai Getz GL 1.5 manual Best mid-size car under $28,000
Subaru Impreza GX 2.0 manual Best mid-size car over $28,000
Mazda6 Classic 2.3 auto Best family car
Ford Falcon XT 4.0 auto Best people-mover
Toyota Avensis Verso GLX 2.0 auto Best sports car under $57,000
Mazda RX8 1.3 manual
Subaru Impreza WRX 2.0 manual Best sports car over $57,000
BMW M3 Coupe 3.2 manual Best luxury car under $57,000
Honda Accord 3.0 auto Best luxury car over $57,000
Audi A8 3.7 auto Best recreational four-wheel drive
Subaru Forester X 2.5 manual Best luxury four-wheel drive
Lexus RX330 3.3 auto Best all-terrain four-wheel drive
Toyota Prado V6/Tdi GXL auto