AA happy with Suzuki dealer on judging panel

Emma Gilmour. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The Automobile Association knew that one of the judges who voted for the Suzuki Kizashi as its supreme car of the year for 2010 runs a Suzuki dealership in Dunedin.

But the motoring body said it had no issues with the choice of dealer and top New Zealand rally driver Emma Gilmour as one of six judges on this year's AA Motoring Excellence Awards panel.

AA motoring services general manager Stella Stocks said the AA recruited Gilmour as a judge long before she was appointed as a Suzuki dealer in Dunedin in September.

"We have no issues with Emma as a judge - she is a total professional," said Stocks.

There has been disquiet in motoring circles since the awards that the AA didn't ask Gilmour to stand down because of her link to Suzuki.

But Stocks said she was "very comfortable" with Gilmour's role. "We have used her before and we respect her professionalism.

"When we learned of the winners we went through all the judges' results to see if there were any issues - if anything, Emma was harder on herself." Gilmour said she told the AA about the Suzuki dealership before the awards.

"I have been a judge on car of the year panels for five or six years now," she said.

"I rally a Subaru - it could be argued that I favour Subarus. But I have always been totally unbiased.

"If there is any talk of conflict of interest in the future, I will step down from the judges' panel."

Gilmour was running the dealership for about a month before she and the other AA judges met in Taupo to pick the winning car from a list of 60 or so new arrivals.

The panel whittled down the list over a week of testing to 10 finalists. The winning Suzuki Kizashi was reportedly a unanimous choice.

Suzuki NZ marketing manager Tom Peck said the judging panel was made aware of the situation.

"It has caused a bit of controversy over the result, but Emma's ability to judge a car cannot be questioned."

The panel

Emma Gilmour

Motoring writers Brian Cowan, David Linklater and Jacqui Madelin.

AA's Andrew Bayliss.

TV3's Shawn Summerfield.