Little Beauties: Suzuki Ignis
They may be small but the selection for this category was huge for 2017, encompassing light/compact cars and the burgeoning segment of small SUVs.
Suzuki's Impreza was in contention as well as Honda's Civic hatch, Audi's Q2, and Suzuki's nod to its heritage, the Ignis small crossover.
While the Impreza was value for money, the winner for the segment was the funky and old-school Ignis, thanks to it being fun to drive and satisfying to look at.
Its quirky styling – harking back to Suzuki's diminutive 1970s Cervo/Fronte coupe plus its height and go-kart style wheel positioning makes it a head-turner.
The Ignis is a tall car but hides it well – its 180mm ground clearance figure is only 5mm lower than a Suzuki Vitara SUV. That height translates well inside, though, with plenty of headroom but not at the gawky expense of the car's overall looks.
The price is impressive too, with entry level manual GLX from $18,990 while the Limited is $22,500
While it's not a coupe like the forefathers from which its designers drew inspiration, it works better as a modern mode of city transport for all. – Cameron Officer
Green Power: Hyundai Ioniq
The 2017 automotive headlines included several car makers announcing strategies to electrify their full future model ranges – in some places mis-reported as the imminent demise of the internal combustion engine.
Those needing a guide to the new world of electrification have found an example in the Hyundai NZ range.
The Korean marque launched the Ioniq sub-brand at the start of 2017. The model range spans the electric options — full battery electric or petrol-electric parallel hybrid at this stage with a third ''half-way house'' choice of plug-in hybrid still to come — conventionally packaged in a family-size five-door hatchback body.
Ioniq's choices range from low consumption and emissions with the only constraint on range being the size of the full tank and location of a service station. That changes to something in the region of 200km of full electric and zero-emissions motoring – requiring careful planning of trips and recharging if venturing much further than the daily commute.
The Ioniq range is a ''here-and-now'' example from a mainstream brand of how electrification will be applied in the foreseeable future.
While some car makers grabbed headlines with their plans, Hyundai NZ was delivering a vehicle to its showrooms that covers the electrification options and has the performance, refinement and conventional driving techniques that also makes it a smooth transition into the new electric world.- Colin Smith
Choices for New Zealand buyers have never been greater and the market has never been so competitive – and you don't need a big budget any more to get a great, safe, brand new vehicle.
This made it a tough choice to narrow down the finalists and caused hours of robust debate among the Driven Car of the Year judges.
This year Driven decided to reflect our readers' interests in our Car of the Year categories more. For the first time we have:
- Little Beauties (covering light/compact cars, and small SUVS); winner: Suzuki Ignis
- Family Chariots (medium/large cars, medium/large SUVs)
- Only For the Rich (premium cars, luxury SUVs)
- Lotto Winner's Choice (performance vehicles); winner: Honda Civic Type R
- Tradies' Delight (utes/vans) – winner: Renault Master range
- Green Power (hybrids and EVs) – winner: Hyundai Ioniq
- Motorbike of the Year – winner: BMW G 310 R
For the latest motoring news, and thousands of new and used vehicles for sale, read more at Driven.co.nz