Best Family SUV named for 2021

The Kia Sorento has defeated a field of eight strong seven-seat contenders to be crowned carsales’ Best Family SUV for 2021.

carsales’ Best Family SUV award recognises the best mainstream seven-seat SUVs based not on a truck-style ladder frame but a car-like monocoque platform.

And after exhaustive testing and examination of more than 100 attributes across five key areas of assessment, the Kia Sorento – the reigning carsales Car of the Year – came out on top.

Large SUVs have become the default vehicle for many Aussie families and the latest Kia Sorento’s class-leading active and passive safety equipment, accomplished Australian-tuned ride and handling package, low cost of ownership and overall value for money ticks more boxes than any of its rivals.

The Kia Sorento is not only well engineered, highly refined and good to drive, but competitively priced and comprehensively stacked with intuitive equipment including a centre front airbag and extensive driver-assist suite, resulting in a five-star ANCAP safety rating under the tough new 2020 protocols. 

To determine the carsales Best Family SUV for 2021, our judges compared the best-equipped variant of each seven-seat contender priced between $60,000 and $75,000 in the areas of safety, technology, comfort and convenience, cost of ownership and driving performance.

carsales Best Family SUV 2021 contenders:
Hyundai Palisade Highlander 2.2D AWD
Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander 2.2D AWD
Kia Sorento GT-Line 2.2D AWD
Mazda CX-8 Asaki 2.2D AWD
Mazda CX-9 Azami 2.5T AWD
Skoda Kodiaq RS 2.0D AWD
Toyota Kluger Grande Hybrid 2.5 AWD
Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 2.0T Wolfsburg Edition