Holden, Toyota and Mazda big winners in 2007 People's Choice

The votes have been counted and Australian car buyers have decided: Holden, Toyota and Mazda are this country's most popular new car brands.

The Carsales Network People's Choice Awards for 2007 were announced today on the carsales.com.au website, with Holden, Toyota and Mazda emerging as the winners in eight of a total of 14 categories.

For the fifth year in a row, the Holden Commodore carried off the People's Choice Award in the Large Car category, showing that the remarkable love affair between Australian drivers and Holden's signature large car just goes on and on.

It's a similar tale for Mazda in the Medium Car and Small Car categories. For the fourth consecutive year the Mazda3 took out the small car title, with the Mazda6's dominance of the medium segment stretching to five years!

Toyota hauled in a swag of no fewer than five People's Choice Awards in 2007, winning the Light Car, Large SUV, Medium SUV, Light Commercial Car and Light Commercial Van categories.

Two new winners also came up trumps in 2007: Volkswagen won its first ever People's Choice Award for the Eos in the Sports Car category, while Land Rover won the Luxury SUV category for the first time with the Range Rover Sport.

The Carsales Network People's Choice Awards are unique in Australia as the only popular poll of car buyers' favourite vehicles.

From November 1, 2006 to October 31, 2007, every time a Carsales Network user placed a sales enquiry on a new car, whether through carsales.com.au, CarPoint.com.au or any of their affiliated websites, the 'lead' counted as a vote in the 2007 Carsales Network People's Choice Awards.

For 2007, the scope of the People's Choice Awards was broadened to include the votes of car shoppers from a wider spectrum of websites -- the key additions being the leading new car shopping destinations, DiscountNewCars.com.au and PrestigeNewCars.com.au.

These sites were added to the existing list of participating sites including RACV, RACWA, RedBook, St George Bank, and, of course, Australia's number one automotive website, carsales.com.au.

The 2007 Carsales Network People's Choice Awards are sponsored by Platinum Finance Direct, Australia's largest independent finance broking firm specialising in motor vehicle, marine and equipment financing.

Commenting on the 2007 People's Choice Awards, Carsales.com Managing Director and CEO Greg Roebuck said: "During 2007, hundreds of thousands of new car enquiries were placed across Carsales Network websites. That means we can determine exactly which new car models Australian buyers are looking at purchasing, and in that way, the People's Choice Awards are truly a vote by Australian car shoppers on their favourite new vehicles.

"Winners are chosen by Australian car buyers themselves." 

To accompany the announcement of the 2007 Carsales Network People's Choice Awards, carsales.com.au has launched a competition to find the "Best of the Best" among this year's winning vehicles.

Entrants should visit the competitions page at www.carsales.com.au, select the box to nominate their favourite model and enter their contact details.

The winner will receive $5000 cash towards their next car, thanks to Platinum Direct Finance and carsales.com.au.

The competition is open to everyone and closes on February 5, 2008.

Carsales Network People's Choice Award Winners
People's Choice Category: Model

Large Car: Holden Commodore
Medium Car: Mazda 6
Small Car: Mazda 3
Light Car: Toyota Yaris
Sports Car: Volkswagen Eos
Luxury Car: BMW 3 Series
Large SUV: Toyota LandCruiser 100 Series
Medium SUV: Toyota LandCruiser Prado
Compact SUV: Honda CR-V
Luxury SUV: Range Rover Sport
People Mover: Kia Carnival/Grand Carnival
Light Commercial Car: Toyota HiLux
Light Commercial Van: Toyota HiAce

For more details, visit the 2007 Carsales Network People's Choice Awards microsite here.

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