Kia Rio Wins Carsguide Car of the Year 2011
Dec
19
Written by:
12/19/2011 8:26 AM
THE budget-beating Kia Rio is the Carsguide Car of the Year for 2011. The small Korean hatch beat out a quality field of 10 finalists for the most coveted motoring award. The Rio becomes only the second Korean car to claim the crown.
That follows the Hyundai i30, the winner in 2007. The Rio succeeds last year's winner, Volkswagen's Polo TSI.
Priced from $16,290, the Rio has an official fuel consumption of just 5.6 litres/100km and a five-star ANCAP crash safety rating. It sits at the bottom of a range of Kia models that improves each year, helped by classy design and local engineering input.
"It's a great little car and one we're proud to endorse as the pick of a hugely competitive 2011 field," Carsguide managing editor Ged Bulmer said.
The Rio edged out the Volvo S60 T4 in the closest vote in Carsguide COTY history, with the Ford Focus finishing third.
The award is in its 15th year and the judging process involved 10 News Limited experts with more than 200 years of combined experience in reporting and analysing the Australian motor industry.
The first COTY was the Holden Commodore VT in 1987. Holden is the most successful manufacturer with four wins.
Anastasia Tjombanakis embodies Australia's growing desire for small cars, having just traded the first COTY winner for the latest one. The former VT Commodore owner is impressed by her Kia Rio.
"It was a bit different, design and styling - I wanted something a bit snazzy," she said.
"It's different to the Commodore, but I miss the torque of the V6. Apart from that, it's a good little car.
"I've done some country trips in it already and it was good on the open road."
Ms Tjombanakis said her little red manual hatch has an impressive amount of interior space for a small car as well. "It's really good, very comfortable my friends comment on how much space it has," she said.
See the full list of Carsguide Car of the Year 2011 top vehicles and read more about the winner at Carsguide.com.au