Toyota 86 wins-Carsguide Car of the Year Award
Dec 18, 2012 By Toyota Australia.
Toyota's 86 sports coupe has been named the best new car in Australia by motoring experts from Australias News Limited media group.
Judges of the Carsguide Car of the Year award said the 86 was a 'ground-breaking car' and the best affordable sports car in decades.
Six of the nine judges, representing leading newspapers and motoring websites around the country, cast their first vote to the sports car after 6000km of testing over three days.
Toyota's executive director sales and marketing Matthew Callachor said the Carsguide victory is a tribute to the passionate people who developed an affordable, fun-to-drive sports car aimed at enthusiasts.
'Carsguide has confirmed the 86 is all about maximum driving pleasure lively, accessible performance and highly engaging dynamic abilities that really get your heart pumping,' Mr Callachor said.
He praised the vision of Toyota's global president Akio Toyoda and the skill and passion of the car's chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada.
'Mr Toyoda is driving Toyota to produce more emotionally engaging cars, giving his full support to Mr Tada's focused development of a car aimed at driving enthusiasts.
'As a result, the 86 is a compact, light, basic sports car with balance and handling rated in the same league as some legendary sports cars.
'It is a worthy successor to some exciting, driver-focused Toyota sports cars that have proven popular with the public and successful in competition, such as the Supra, MR2 and Celica GT-Four.'
The 86 has been a runaway success in Australia with 1,700 sold in less than six months, and a strong order bank.
Carsguide editor Paul Pottinger said the judges had decided the 86 should share the award with the Subaru BRZ as the two cars were developed jointly.
'Ultimately, the judging panel agreed the sports-car collaboration resulted in a ground-breaking car, regardless of the badges it wears,' Mr Pottinger said.
It is the second time a Toyota has won the News Ltd Carsguide Car of the Year in the 16-year history of the award.
The first was the Toyota Echo in 1999.