NZ Car of the Year - which will take the top spot?

The 10 vehicles that are NZ Car of the Year finalist in the AA/Guild annual awards.

Judging for the New Zealand Car of the Year award is nearly complete ahead of the announcement of the title in Auckland next month.

The New Zealand Automobile Association and the New Zealand Motoring Writers' Guild (NZMWG) will announce the Car of the Year along with 10 category winners at the Viaduct Events Centre on December 4.

Members of the guild, a collection of New Zealand's leading motoring writers, and selected AA judges are independently ranking each of the top 10 finalists for the Car of the Year title on a range of elements including value, design and quality. Alongside this selection, they are also choosing their favourites from all new cars currently on sale in a range of categories.

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AA Motoring Services General Manager says the New Zealand Car of the Year awards provides consumers with information on the best vehicles available for a range of uses.

The Car of the Year is the pick of all new cars launched in New Zealand in the 12 months to October this year while the category winners are selected from all new cars that are available on the market right now.

Guild members and the selected AA voters will select the Car of the Year from a list of 10 finalists while the category winners come from a much bigger pool of available new cars.

Ms Stocks says that because of the structure of the awards, consumers can be sure that the judges are looking at all elements of every type of new car available to come up with the best.

"Not everyone is in the market for a new car, but one of the benefits of the New Zealand Car of the Year award is that the selections endure. The winners in 2014 will still be good cars in three or four years as they become used cars," she says.

The top 10 finalists for the New Zealand Car of the Year are:
• Mazda3
• Honda Jazz
• Nissan Qashqai
• Nissan X-Trail
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class
• Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
• Toyota Highlander
• BMW M3/4
• Jeep Cherokee
• Range Rover Sport

NZMWG President Liz Dobson says it that there was already strong feedback from the motoring writers on the finalists of the New Zealand Car of the Year.

"The voting for the final 10 by Guild members is robust, with strong opinions on what vehicles should and shouldn't be in the list," she says.

"I know that quite a few motoring writers have had some tough decisions to make when it came to their voting.

"The Guild members write for an array of motoring publications and come from both rural areas and cities so there are many different perspectives on what should be the Car of the Year."