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 Chief Judge, Ernest Litera, with Audi S4 at ABC awards |
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15th November, 2004 Audi has won two significant national awards at the fifth annual Australia’s Best Cars awards announcement held in Sydney last Thursday. The Audi A8 3.7 quattro has been voted the ‘Best Luxury Car over $57,000’ and has been joined in the winner’s circle by the Audi S4 sedan, voted Australia’s Best Sports Car over $57,000. Australia’s Best Cars (ABC) are the national motoring awards presented each year by the State motoring organisations and provide recommendations for consumers purchasing new vehicles in a range of popular categories. The 2005 Australia’s Best Cars awards represent the second time the Audi A8 3.7 quattro has been voted the top car in the ‘Best Luxury Car over $57,000’ category. The Audi A8 has received many international accolades, from the renowned European Golden Steering Wheel Award for Best Car in the Luxury Class through to first place honours as America’s Best Luxury Car from US publication, AutoWeek. Highlighting the Audi A8’s truly international appeal, the two-time win in the Australia’s Best Cars award is also significant for the vehicle’s positioning in the Australian market, with the A8 3.7 quattro finishing ahead of the BMW 530i and the Mercedes-Benz E320 Elegance in 2004. The Audi S4’s win as ‘Best Sports Car over $57,000’, ahead of the BMW M3 Coupe and Mercedes-Benz SLK 350, is recognition of the superb capabilities of this potent ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ model and proof that its unique combination of style, sporting exclusivity and versatility is perfectly suited to the Australian market. Billed as the ultimate ‘practical sportscar’, the fire-breathing S4 is one of several new models to highlight Audi’s evolving position of luxurious sporty performance in the Australian market. The Australia’s Best Cars awards are judged using a unique, objective scoring system based on an extensive consumer survey of new car buyers and their purchasing priorities. Voting and formal scoring of contenders is conducted by the engineers and vehicle road testers from all state motoring clubs. They also draw on information from other key areas of expertise within each organisation. Participating clubs are RACV, NRMA, RAA, RACWA, RACQ, RACT and AANT. Vehicles are grouped into 12 popular categories in keeping with consumer purchasing preferences and recognised industry classifications. These categories are:
The awards are open to all volume-selling new vehicles on the Australian market, not just current year releases. Eligibility is based on general availability within Australia and limited edition models are not considered. The judging panel reserve the right to exclude cars which the panel believes lack consumer relevance or whose value exceeds three times the luxury tax threshold of $57,000. All cars are assessed, scored and ranked on a category scorecard. The contenders are formally scored against 19 to 21 set criteria depending on class. There are three areas of assessment: Value for Money, Design and Function, and On the Road. Four-wheel drives are also scored on 4WD ability, with different weightings for recreational, luxury and all terrain 4WDs. At the cut-off date each year, the top three contenders from each category are assembled for back-to-back road testing and final scoring. The scoring, where possible, is designed to be objective and each score is weighted by its importance to buyers in that segment of the market. While the highest scored vehicle in each category receives the Best Cars trophy, the category scorecard is used by advisors at each club to discuss the relative merits of any vehicle in the class. Formal scoring of each car involves members of the judging team gathering information on the scored areas, and ranking each vehicle against its category competition. The scoring is divided evenly between objective and subjective areas. Background information – Judging Criteria There are three main scoring criteria, each with sub-categories: 1. Value for Money
2. Design and Function
3. On the Road Performance
All nominated vehicles are evaluated according to standard road-test procedure and are given a score of between one to five in each of the above 20 criteria, with five being well above average and one being well below average. Those criteria are then weighted according to each one's importance to buyers in that particular market segment. The weightings ranged from critical (1.0) to low (0.2). Each car's final score is then crunched by customised software to get an overall score out of five. The three highest-scoring cars in each class make it to the final test in Victoria, where nine judges spend five days choosing the winners in each category. The judges, representing motoring organisations from around Australia, drive each car twice, checking and reassessing the scores. |
 Audi A8 is Best Luxury Car over $57,000 |