The Jaguar I-Pace has been named the 2019 New Zealand Car of the Year – the first time a solely battery electric vehicle has won the award.
Members of the New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild made up of over 20 professional journalists with specialist expertise in the automotive industry, reviewed and voted for the SUV throughout the year.
Guild president – and Auto Media Group managing editor – Richard Edwards says the I-Pace’s innovative design and feature set led to its selection as this year’s overall winner.
“We are delighted to name the Jaguar I-Pace as the 2019 New Zealand Car of the Year. With it already holding the 2019 World Car of the Year title, it is a real endorsement of our independent voting process.”
“The Jaguar I-Pace is an impressive car. Its unique design offers buyers the chance to have both a sports car and SUV at the same time, while also offering the latest in convenience and safety features.”
“The fact that it is all-electric with a very usable range is an absolute bonus. New Zealand is ideally placed with its huge share of renewable energy to make the most of the advancements in electric vehicles the new vehicle industry is providing us,” he says.
The 21 voting members of the Guild evaluated the I-Pace against a range of criteria including how the vehicle performs its intended role; its styling, interior design and accommodation; fit, finish and quality; ride and refinement; performance; road-holding and handling; value for money; active and passive safety and environmental responsibility.
The Jaguar I-Pace beat out nine other finalists in the New Zealand Car of the Year awards, including two other EVs to take the top honour. This year’s finalists were the Audi e-tron, Ford Focus, Holden Acadia, Hyundai Santa Fe, Jaguar I-Pace, Mazda 3, Mercedes GLE, Peugeot 508, Tesla Model 3 and Toyota RAV4.
The New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild has named the New Zealand Car of the Year for over three decades, the I-Pace being the 32nd.
The award is open to all cars, SUVs and utes launched over a 12-month period. To be eligible for the award they must be driven by over two-thirds of the 21 voting members of the guild for at least 72 hours.
Testing is undertaken in the members home environment, not on a track. This allows voting to be based on the same experience an owner would have, using the car in their day-to-day life.
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