Small & Medium THE BEST SUVs of the year
COTY kicks off with the first finalists in our SUV Small/Medium categories
It’s AA DRIVEN New Zealand Car of the Year time again! We’ll be awarding wins in 10 different categories, acknowledging the overwhelming preference for all things SUV but also with a focus on eco-cars and technology: there are Small SUV, Medium SUV, Large SUV, Passenger, LCV, Clean Car HEV/ PHEV/BEV, Sports and Performance, Luxury and Safety categories, not to mention the outright AA DRIVEN NZ COTY — which will of course be one of the top cars from those categories.
The focus is on cars launched in the last 12 months, but in fact we have considered all cars on sale as long as they have a five-star crash rating. Because if you can buy it new, we reckon it should be in contention.
We’re kicking off this week by announcing the finalists in the three SUV categories: Small/ Medium here and you’ll see Large when you turn the page.
Further on you’ll also see the final list for our People’s Choice award, which has been expanded for 2022 and brings with it a big $5k reader prize. So be sure to have your say and be in to win.
There’s even more to come over the next few weeks, of course. But for now, let’s take a look at the top SUVs of the year.
Small SUV
Small SUVs are still a really big deal in NZ, accounting for one in five new-vehicle sales and providing Kiwi buyers with a near-ideal blend of high style and city-friendly dimensions.
It’s a varied bunch too this year, as evidenced by our finalists (presented in alphabetical order), which are all available with a choice of internal combustion and electrified power. Across the three, ICE, HEV, PHEV and BEV options are all represented.
The Hyundai Kona is now in its its updated “Series II” guise. It’s a familiar sight on Kiwi roads (it’s been with us since 2017) but still one of the more striking-looking cars in this segment. It started out with petrol power, but became an early adopter of pure-electric tech in 2018 and this year has also branched out as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).
The MG ZS has made a huge impact in the NZ market in recent times — and has evolved with three different faces for Kiwi buyers. There’s the entry-level ZS, with a 1.5-litre petrol engine, the higher-specification ZST which has different frontal styling, and of course the ZS EV, a pure-electric model (which looks different again thanks to this year’s model update) which has introduced a huge number of Kiwis to BEV technology.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is another ever-popular compact SUV that offers a huge range of tech-choice. The petrol models are available in 2WD or with Mitsubishi’s sophisticated Super All Wheel Control AWD technology. But the Eclipse Cross has now also expanded into plugin hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) territory, also in AWD format with dual electric motors.
Medium SUV
Medium SUVs are still the single most popular type of new vehicle in NZ, accounting for 23 per cent of sales year-to-date. It’s another segment where new technology is making serious inroads.
BYD is a new brand for NZ (although well-established in China, where it’s a leading EV producer) and the Atto 3 has made a huge impact since its launch in September. It’s a BEV that offers price parity with petrol/ diesel SUVs, and a choice of two battery sizes that allows buyers to choose a range according to budget/needs.
The Kia Sportage is a more outwardly traditional kind of family SUV — but it’s another that really impresses for high style, practical packaging — and fit-for-purpose powertrain technology. There are both petrol and diesel options, 2WD and AWD — and the active safety technology fitted to some of the higher-end models is truly remarkable, including the Blindspot View Monitor (BVM) that appears as a high-res video feed in the digital instrument panel.
What’s arguably the most eagerly awaited Tesla of them all arrived in NZ this year: the Model Y, a very on-point medium-SUV interpretation of the successful Model 3 sedan. The entry RWD version hits right at the mainstream but in true Tesla fashion there’s also a super-fast version with AWD.