Tesla Model S: carsales.com.au Car of the Year

In a sign of the times in Australia's ever-changing automotive industry, Tesla's all-electric Model S has been named the 2015 carsales.com.au Car of the Year.

Setting new standards in performance, driving range and luxury for an electric car, the battery-powered large premium sedan was announced as the winner of the sought-after CCOTY award, it was also named Best Green Car.

While it was Tesla's first appearance in the carsales Car of the Year awards — which combine a unique blend of critical evaluation, ownership cost, retained value, consumer engagement and affordability assessments – several manufacturers were multi winners in 2015, including Mazda (CX-3, CX-5, 6 Wagon), Porsche (Macan and Cayman), Mercedes-Benz (C-Class and CLS-Class) and Ford (Fiesta ST and Ranger).

Mercedes demonstrated its stranglehold on the luxury car market with the C-Class (last year's carsales Car of the Year) and CLS-Class again winning both prestige categories (under/over $100,000) in 2015.

Despite all its Dieselgate troubles, Volkswagen's Golf retained its title as Best Family Car Under $30,000, while Skoda won its first award with the Fabia named our Best First Car.

Also winning their category for the second year in a row were the Mazda CX-5 (Best SUV under $50,000), Porsche Macan (Best SUV over $50,000) and Porsche Cayman (Best Performance Car over $100,000).

Like the Tesla Model S, the Ford Ranger also won two awards – Best Offroad 4x4 and Best Tradie vehicle.

carsales.com.au CEO Greg Roebuck said the Tesla Model S is a game-changer in the Australian automotive landscape.

"While Tesla is a fledgling car company, it has set the tone for the next generation of automobile evolution. Tesla will change the auto industry. Companies with 100-year histories are scrambling to catch up," he said.

"Tesla has done so with innovative technology and a fearless desire to sidestep existing practices. The Model S is conventional in its looks but ultimately unconventional in its execution. Its internet connectivity allowing vehicle updates and new features without the need to visit a service centre is a true innovation and the real-time, always current, mapping which includes traffic info is a really nice touch."

Roebuck said the carsales judges praised the Model S for its advancement of technology, sorted driving dynamics and realistic real-world range – in top-spec more than triple that of other all-electric vehicles.

He said Tesla's quality construction and user-friendly infotainment interface were also commended by the judges as was the quiet ride and spacious cabin.

"The Model S delivered on all our data-based criteria. It was very close to being named one of our Prestige class winners in addition to the Green award.

"The Model S is a deserved winner, and truly a car that will influence the design of vehicles globally for many years to come."

Tesla Motors Australia marketing and communications manager Heath Walker said: “Our aspiration at Tesla was to show that the Model S can truly be better than a petrol car, helping overcome perceived barriers and advancing the adoption of sustainable transport. This is now further enforced through winning carsales Car of the Year against a field of exceptional competitors.”

carsales.com.au’s editorial arm motoring.com.au revealed its motoring Recommends awards in August. The carsales.com.au Car of the Year awards utilises motoring’s 13 lifestyle category recommendations as a shortlist and leverages data from the automotive network’s Redbook and DataMotive division to refine each segment. motoring’s editors then award the carsales.com.au Car of the Year gong to the most deserving of the category winners.

The lifestyle categories for carsales.com.au Car of the Year and motoring.com.au Recommends align with search functionality across the carsales network. Each category has data-based eligibility criteria (see below).

2015 carsales.com.au Car of the Year winners:
Carsales Car of the Year 2015 — Tesla Model S
Best First Car — Skoda Fabia
Best City Car — Mazda CX-3
Best Family Car under $30,000 — Volkswagen Golf
Best Family Car over $30,000 — Mazda 6 Wagon
Best SUV under $50,000 — Mazda CX-5
Best SUV over $50,000 — Porsche Macan
Best Prestige Car under $100,000 — Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Best Prestige Car over $100,000 — Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
Best Performance Car under $100,000 — Ford Fiesta ST EcoBoost
Best Performance Car over $100,000 — Porsche Cayman
Best Offroad 4x4 — Ford Ranger
Best Tradie vehicle — Ford Ranger
Best Green Car — Tesla Model S

See full details of winners here

The Judging Criteria
The key point of difference between carsales Car of the Year and other awards is the combination of critical expert evaluation and purchase and ownership data.

The motoring.com.au crew supply the former but the data and number crunching is the domain of Redbook.

The very first cut for eligibility is on-sale dates. To qualify for the carsales Car of the Year awards, new cars must be available for sale to the general public via recognised OEM (manufacturer or approved importer) channels before September 1 in the year of the awards. Next, Redbook confirms eligibility on the basis of the each category’s rules. These are outlined is the information on each category winner.

Then comes price.  Eligibility is based on recommended retail price of the base model under consideration. After that all expert evaluation, ownership costs and affordability calculations are based on the price, packaging and equipment of the respective top-selling variants.

It’s the nitty gritty of the data calculations that separates carsales Car of the Year. Expert opinion forms 70 per cent of the potential 100 point maximum score for each vehicle, with cost to run, retained value, consumer engagement and affordability comprising the rest.

Cost to run is by far the most complex calculation. This includes estimated costs for fuel, on-road costs, tyres, Insurance and finance over a three-year period averaged per month for each of the five category finalists. Once calculated, the cheapest car to run gets 10 points with points applied to the rest as a ratio of the lowest monthly cost.

Retained Value is also worth a maximum of 10 points. This is calculated as a percentage of RRP of the Redbook ‘Good Retail Retained’ value after 36 months (60,000km). Here points are applied as a ratio of the highest retained value.

Consumer Engagement is a measure of the popularity of the car with new car buyers and is awarded a maximum of five points. This leverages data from within the carsales network and calculates ‘detailed views’ of the Vehicle Model (ie: all Mazda 6s) for the July and August immediately prior to awards eligibility date. Points here are applied as a ratio of the highest views.

Affordability is a measure of the category finalists against each other based on RRP. Points applied as a ratio of the lowest RRP of the five category finalists with the lowest priced vehicle scoring a maximum of five points.

Cost to Run
Cost to run is calculated based on the below criteria. Costs are average per month over three years and 60,000km.

Fuel
Based on ADR combined economy. Fuel prices as at August 31, 2015 -- excludes any shopper docket or other discounts. Assumed mileage is 20,000km annually for three years. Fuel RON rating/FE figures as per RedBook data.

On Road Costs
Based on initial year stamp duty plus registration for Victorian Metro. Registration charges only for years two and three. Includes Victorian hybrid/electric discount of $100 where applicable.

Tyres
Based on 20,000km annually. Tyre costs from Tyresales.com.au (averaged, excluding the no-name Chinese brands). Turnover of tyres varies on segment, though generally assumed to get 50,000km from a set of tyres, so at least one replacement set of new tyres will be required over 60,000km/three-year period.

Insurance
Based of online quotes from Budget Direct (via carsales.com.au) where available, or from RACV as an alternative.

Finance
Assumes 100% finance over three years at 7.00% interest rate via Stratton.com.au finance calculator.

Servicing
Uses manufacturer scheduled service costs where available, or alternatively, assumed default values for each segment, based on prior Redbook cost-to-own studies.