Aurion reclaims Australia’s ‘best large car’ award

TOYOTA’S Australian-built Aurion AT-X has returned to the top of the podium as ‘Australia’s best’ large car, beating the Holden Commodore Omega (complete with the acclaimed new 3.0-litre SIDI V6) and the 2008 winner, Ford’s FG Falcon, to take out this year’s coveted motoring association award.

At a presentation dinner in Melbourne last night, Toyota won praise for its recent upgrade of the Aurion, which included improved economy, minimal price increases and fitment of a front passenger seatbelt reminder that enabled it to claim a five-star crash-test rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

Reclaiming the title it won in 2006 and 2007, the Aurion AT-X won from the VE Commodore Omega and the XR6 derivative of Ford’s FG Falcon – not the XT, which won last year’s large-car section, as Ford claims (and provided supporting evidence to show) that the XR6 is now its biggest-selling model variant, which is the car assessed for the awards program.

“When it first won a couple of years ago, the Aurion was the leader in terms of the safety pack and value for money, and that sort of thing,” Best Cars chief judge Ernest Litera told GoAuto.

“The Falcon overhauled it last year, but basically we now have all five-star ANCAP cars from Ford, Holden and Toyota. So Toyota has improved that and improved the efficiency of the engine, too.

“I think the story with Aurion is that it’s been around a while, which means that they (Toyota) can do it at a really good price. It’s still the cheapest car in the category.”

From top: Audi A6, Subaru Outback, Ford Fiesta.

While the Commodore’s new engine rated highly, Mr Litera confirmed that it was not enough for the big Holden to win outright.

Other award winners announced last night at the 10th annual Australia’s Best Cars awards were the Ford Fiesta LX (small car), Hyundai i30 SX diesel (mid-size car under $30,000), Volkswagen Golf 118 TSI Comfortline (mid-size car over $30,000), Hyundai iMax diesel (people-mover), BMW 135i Coupe (sportscar), Audi TT-S TFSI quattro (luxury sportscar), Subaru Liberty 3.6R Premium (prestige car), Audi A6 3.0 TFSI quattro (luxury car), Subaru Outback 2.5i (recreational 4WD), Audi Q5 3.0 TDI (luxury 4WD), and the Land Rover Discovery 4 SE TDV6 (best all-terrain 4WD).

More than 280 vehicles were assessed across the 12 categories, with judging across 19 areas bracketed into three main sections: value for money, design, and on-road performance. The finalists are road tested during a week of assessment before category winners are determined.

Audi’s continued rise in Australia was reflected with three awards, with the TT-S outgunning the BMW M3 (and its own S4 TFSI quattro), the A6 winning over the Jaguar XF 3.0D and Lexus GS450h, and the Q5 impressing the judges more than the BMW X5 xDrive3.0d and Volvo XC60 T6.

This year’s awards also marked the return to the fore of Subaru, with the Outback winning from the VW Tiguan 103 TDI and another derivative of Audi’s Q5, this time the 2.0 TDI. In the prestige category, the Liberty shone brighter than the Audi A4 2.0 TDI and Mercedes-Benz C220 CDi Classic.

“It really is the return of the Subaru – Liberty and Outback. I think they’ve been caught out a bit by what the Europeans have been doing of late, but they’re back on song again,” said Mr Litera, adding that the judging took place prior to last month’s launch of the diesel version of the Outback.

Australia’s biggest-selling brand, Toyota, managed only one finalist other than Aurion – the Toyota LandCruiser GXL 4WD – while Holden’s all-new Cruze small car failed to make it on to the list of finalists, leaving the Commodore as the sole model in contention for an award from the lion brand.

Mr Litera said the Cruze scored highly in terms of pricing, safety and fuel economy, but lost points on running costs, repair costs and security. For the first time this year, consumers will be able to determine their own ‘best car’ winner, selecting vehicles online (www.australiasbestcars.com.au) in a category according to their own criteria, not the entire 19 areas that the Best Cars judges use to determine the overall winners.

“So if you were punching in ‘safety’ and ‘economy’, the Cruze is the car that would most likely rise to the top (of its category),” Mr Litera said.

The independent Best Cars program is run through the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) and constituent motoring clubs. The judging panel is drawn from motoring clubs in each state.

“Each year we are seeing better produced, safer and more affordable vehicles on the Australian market,” said AAA chief executive Mike Harris.