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The Kia Sorento has taken out top gong in Carsales’ Car of the Year awards, with the South Korean-made SUV beating out the Porsche Taycan and Land Rover Defender.
Each car in the awards series was scored using expert opinion and data generated by automotive data specialist RedBook.com.au.
Finalists and winners were decided by a combination of RedBook data and safety system bonus points as well as judges’ scores.
Judges evaluated the cars across categories including safety, technology, design, innovation, dynamics, comfort, practicality, quality and presentation.
The seven-seat Kia Sorento, geared for families, won Car of the Year due to its stylish design, generous features and safety.
“These include an advanced autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, driver attention warning, lane following assist and rear cross traffic collision avoidance assist,” a Carsales.com.au website description of the Sorento reads. “There are also seven airbags on board, including a centre front airbag.”
The Sorento starts from $45,850 plus on-road costs for the base model – the front-wheel drive (petrol) Sorento S – and tops at $63,070 for the flagship Sorento GT-Line diesel ($64,990 drive away).
One of the runners up in the Car of the Year award was the Porsche Taycan, an all-electric super-saloon made by the iconic German luxury performance car manufacturer.
Porsche’s first electric vehicle also won Carsales’ People’s Choice gong late last year, an award for users (minus judges) to vote on from the 10 Car of the Year finalists.
The Taycan can travel for as long as 412km on a full charge and has a fast-charge capability, enabling the battery pack to go from 5 to 80 per cent charge in just 23 minutes.
The Taycan is seen as a huge step forward for the electric car industry given Stuttgart-based Porsche has been synonymous with high-powered traditional vehicles.
Porsche offers the Taycan from $190,000 for the 4S model and tops out at $338,500 for the Turbo S.
The Land Rover Defender was the other runner-up in the Car of the Year.
Carsales describes the Defender as “an icon completely reimagined”.
“The new Land Rover Defender brings improved levels of refinement and off-road capability,” Carsales’ description of the British 4WD reads.
“Transforming its agricultural heritage, this more glamorous off-roader is set to lure a new generation of buyers.”
The Defender starts at just under $70,000 plus on-road costs and maxes out at more than $95,000.
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