Australia’s Best Cars 2018 Winners
Thinking about buying a new car and don’t know where to start? Purchasing a new vehicle can be quite an overwhelming experience. You’ve got family members in one ear telling you how fuel efficient their Hyundai is and a car salesman in the other explaining all the extra features you can add onto your BMW. Who do you trust? Lucky for you, all your homework has been done for you through the program, Australia’s Best Cars 2018.
ABC for short has been created by RAC with a selection panel of eight judges representing all state and territory auto clubs, who have, using a comprehensive scoring system, vigorously marked and tested more than 150 new cars over the course of 12 months. Comprising of 15 different categories of cars, each car was scored against more than 20 different criteria’s, including safety, pricing, depreciation, standard features, insurance costs, fuel consumption and driveability.
RAC Manager Vehicles and Sustainability, and Australia’s Best Cars judge, Alex Forrest mentioned that the program seeks to influence the new car market by challenging manufacturers to continually improve on the safety, fuel efficient and affordability of their vehicles.
“All models were tested as a consumer would typically use them, which makes the list of winning vehicles a great starting point to help guide new car buyers in making an informed decision”, he said.
“Not only is a car one of the biggest purchasing decisions people make, it is also the most technically complex item most people own, and one which might save their life one day.
The 2018 Australia’s Best cars winners not only offer great value for money, but are also highly rated in terms of their safety, how they drive and their fuel efficiency.”
In the final stages of testing judges put each car through its final phase exposing the vehicles to some of Australia’s seasonal changes, including rain, sunshine, muddy, dry and wet roads. If you are still undecided on what car to purchase, below is a list of the winners who scored the best for each category.
| Category | Winner |
| Micro Category | Kia Picanto S |
| Light Category | Mazda2 Maxx |
| Small Car <$35,000 | Mazda3 Maxx Sport |
| Small Car >$35,000 | BMW 125i |
| Medium Car <$50,000 | Toyota Camry Ascent Hybrid |
| Medium Car >$50,000 | BMW 330i Sportline |
| Large Car <$70,000 | Kia Singer 200S |
| Family Wagon | Kia Carnival Sli |
| Sports <$50,000 | Hyundai i30 N |
| Sports $50,000 – $100,000 | Mercedes A 45 AMG |
| Small 2WD SUV <$35,000 | Mazda CX-3 Maxx |
| AWD SUV <$50,000 | Subaru |
Source: RAC
New cars keep coming in the Australia market with one noticeable trend in 2019: hybrid and electric cars. It has become increasingly hard to ignore and it is now more common to have to consider whether you should buy one.