Late in 2012 it seemed that all the motoring magazines and websites had a flurry of activity to compete with each other to announce their winners of their versions of the Car of The Year Awards. It seems like there has was a new set of awards each week during November and December.
It has always struck us here at OzRoamer as just a little strange that COTY winners should be announced in either November or December, before the year is actually finished. This is particularly evident in 2012 when there was a number of significant releases of new vehicles in December, after the ‘award season’ had finished.
So as we always seem to do things just a little differently here at OzRoamer, to give our readers maximum information and benefit, our awards for 2012 are being announced now, in February 2013 . The reviews of the vehicles are in the special edition of OzRoamer 4WD and SUV Guide 2012 . This way we can actually assess all relevant vehicles for our awards.
The criteria for our awards is simple
• The vehicle must be available for sale to the general public at year’s end
• The vehicle must meet the criteria for its category
• Final contenders are selected by the panel
• Each vehicle is subjectively and objectively measured against its competitors in the category and the one with the most points wins
• That the judging criteria reflects real life situations because you our readers buy these vehicles for use in similar situations.
• That the awards assist our readers make educated buying decisions, and
• Advertising dollars and marketing hype doesn’t sway the eventual winners or even the contenders
A panel of 9 judges have participated to varying degrees in the awards over the 12 categories and over 40 contenders. The winners as follows. These winners are from the judges by scoring the vehicles against set criteria in 10 sub sections.
OzRoamer Sports SUV of the Year 2012
• Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
• Subaru Forester S Edition
• BMW X5 M50d
The Winner of the OzRoamer Sports SUV of the Year 2012 is the BMW X5 M50d
OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 less than $45,000
• Mitsubishi ASX AWD Aspire Diesel
• Hyundai ix35 Highlander 2.0R Auto
• Yeti 4×4 112TSI DSG
The Winner of the OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 less than $45,000 is the Hyundai IX35 Highlander 2.0R
OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 between $45,001 and $60,000
• Mazda CX5 GT diesel
• Kia Sportage Platinum
• Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire DiD Premium
• Skoda Octavia Scout Premium 103 TDi DSG
The Winner of the OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 between $45,001 and $60,000 is the Mazda CX5 GT Diesel
OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $60,001 to $100,000
• BMW X3 3.0d
• Audi Q5 3.0TDi
• Volvo XC60 T6 AWD Teknik
The Winner of the OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $60,001 to $100,000 is the BMW X3 3.0d
OzRoamer 7 Seat 4WD of the Year 2012 UP TO $70,000
• Mitsubishi Challenger XLS
• Holden Colorado 7 LTZ
• Nissan Pathfinder STL Diesel
The Winner of the OzRoamer 7 Seat 4WD of the Year 2012 UP TO $70,000 is the Holden Colorado7 LTZ
OzRoamer 7 Seat 4wd of the Year 2012 over $70,001
• Toyota Landcruiser GXL Diesel
• Toyota Prado Kakadu Turbo Diesel
• Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed DiD
• Landrover Discovery 4 SDV6 SE
The Winner of the OzRoamer 7 Seat 4wd of the Year 2012 over $70,001 is the Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed DiD
OzRoamer 7 Seat AWD SUV of the Year 2012 less than $60,000
• Kia Sorento Platinum
• Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander
• Ford Territory TX AWD
• Toyota Kluger KX-S
The Joint Winners of the OzRoamer 7 Seat AWD SUV of the Year 2012 less than $60,000 are Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander 2.2R and the Kia Sorento Platinim 2.2R
OzRoamer 7 Seat AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $60,001
• Mazda CX9 GT
• Ford Territory Titanium AWD
• Toyota Kluger Grande
• Volvo XC90
The Winner of the OzRoamer 7 Seat AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $60,001 is the Toyota Kluger Grande
OzRoamer Dual Cab Ute of the Year 2012
• Mitsubishi Triton GLX-R
• Nissan Navara D40 STX 550
• Holden Colorado LTZ
• Isuzu D Max LSU
• Ford Ranger XLT
• Mazda BT50
The Winner of the OzRoamer Dual Cab Ute of the Year 2012 is the Ford Ranger XLT
OzRoamer Prestige 4WD & AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $100,000
• Porsche Cayenne S
• Lexus LX570
• Mercedes Benz ML500
• Mercedes Benz GL 350Ci BlueEFFICIENCY Wagon
The Winner of the OzRoamer Prestige 4WD & AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $100,000 is the Mercedes Benz GL 350 CDi BlueEFFICIENCY
OzRoamer 4wd of the Year 2012 less than $70,000
• Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo V6 Diesel
• Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
• Toyota FJ Cruiser
• Suzuki Grand Vitara Diesel
• Plus all other 4wd vehicles nominated within other categories
The Winner of the OzRoamer 4wd of the Year 2012 less than $70,000 is the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo V6 Diesel
OzRoamer 4WD of the Year 2012 over $70,001
• Toyota LC70 GXL Wagon
• Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland V6 Diesel
• Toyota GXL 200 Landcruiser V8 Diesel
• Plus all other 4wd vehicles nominated within other categories
The Winner of the OzRoamer 4wd of the Year 2012 more than $70,000 is the Jeep Grand CherokeeOverland V6 Diesel
To read the reviews of the winning vehicles and contenders look for the Special edition of OzRoamer SUV and 4WD Guide 2012 in February 2013.