Immediate release
November 18, 2008

Countdown Commences For NZ Car Of The Year

Nine cars, ranging from stylish superminis and everyday compacthatchbacks through to medium-sized sports utilities, large saloons and luxury cars have made the cut as finalists for the 2008 New Zealand Car of the Year Award.

Voted for annually by more than three dozen established motoringjournalists, each of whom is a member of the New Zealand Motoring Writers' Guild, the award is the country's most comprehensive. It is also the most respected by the car industry itself, being the embodiment of the opinions of experts representing every automotive medium.

This includes the motoring sections of the country's major daily andweekly newspapers, several automotive websites, car and lifestyle magazines, and a number of radio and television outlets.

Over several months, the Guild's Car of the Year committee hasassembled its shortlist of finalists, which has been selected from all new models launched in New Zealand during the 12 months prior to 1 November 2008.

In alphabetical order, the 2008 shortlist consists of: the Fiat 500,the FG-series Ford Falcon, the new Honda Accord Euro and Hyundai i30. Jaguar's new XF saloon, the new-generation Mazda6, Nissan X-Trail and Subaru Forester have also been awarded finalist status. Volkswagen's crossover-SUV Tiguan completes the list.

The vehicle that emerges from this list to be selected early in theNew Year as the 20th New Zealand Car of the Year will have been tested at length by voting Guild members on roads throughout the country. As well as its performance and handling, the facets under consideration will include the car's suitability for the task for which it was designed, its value for money, ease of operation, fuel economy, and build quality, along with its level of home comforts and safety accoutrements, and yes, even how good it looks.

Every vehicle is scored out of 100 by each voter, and the Guild'swinner will take the title of New Zealand Car of the Year only after thousands of separate voting decisions have been collated and assessed.

The distributors of the winning car will be awarded the PeterGreenslade Trophy, named after the now deceased motoring editor of The Press in Christchurch, who was one of the instigators of the Car of the Year award in the late 1980s.

The current holder of the New Zealand Car of the Year Award is thelatest Mazda 2. Other recent winners include the Porsche Cayman, the current Mazda MX-5 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and previous- generations of the Honda Accord Euro and Ford Mondeo.

ENDS

www.nzmotoringwritersguild.co.nz