AA Motoring Excellence Awards Presentation Tonight

The inaugural AA Motoring Excellence Awards will be presented at a prestigious black tie function at the Langham Hotel in Auckland this evening before 300 new vehicle industry representatives.

The Awards attracted over one hundred nominations from the motor industry making them the largest Awards of their type ever held in New Zealand . There are eleven categories with a supreme winner to be selected from the various category winners. The categories are -

Vodafone Environmental Excellence

GE Money Excellence in Safety

Deloitte Excellence in Motoring Journalism

Vero Insurance Luxury Vehicle

National Bank Medium / Large Car

Castrol Lifestyle Vehicle

BP Soft Touch Technology Carwash Performance Car

Bridgestone Convertible Car

Eyepro Eyecare Medium 4 Cylinder Car

Swann Insurance Compact Car

J.D. Power & Associates Small Car

AA's General Manager, Technical Services, Stella Stocks , said today that the huge number of nominations - three times that of previous AA motoring Awards - reflected vehicle manufacturers' enthusiasm for the new consumer-based approach.

"The AA Motoring Excellence Awards have a distinct focus on what consumers are looking for in vehicles," Ms Stocks said. " We have evaluated specific aspects of each vehicle within its class, comparing it with similar vehicles and looking at the overall intended purpose and customer base for that vehicle."

"We have also broadened the Awards to include excellence in journalism, safety and the environment, adding a dimension that has been missing in previous Awards.

"The Motoring Excellence recipients will be announced progressively through the night with the supreme winner known by ten o'clock ,' she said.