Mercedes-Benz’s remarkable C-Class has scooped Australia’s premier new-car award – Wheels Magazine’s Car of the Year 2007.

The C-Class convincingly came out on top of 20 new models after Wheels’ gruelling week-long testing program.

The six finalists were: Ford Mondeo, Mazda 2, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Skoda Roomster, Volkswagen Eos and BMW M3.

Wheels editor, Ged Bulmer said the C-Class stood apart from the field with its impressive combination of standard safety features, well-judged electronic driver aids, excellent dynamic ability, ride comfort, build quality and attractive design.

“Every C-Class model in the range shares these outstanding core attributes,” Bulmer said.



The Wheels Car of the Year judging panel considers the entire vehicle range rather than a single model. The eight-member panel tested 46 variants of the 20 new models short-listed for the award.

“All four C-Class models presently available for sale in Australia were tested, making it the equal largest range on test this year,” Bulmer said. “It’s more difficult for a larger range to win the coveted trophy as all models must excel.”.

This was the 45th running of Wheels Car of the Year.

The 20 nominees for Wheels COTY 2007 were:

Audi A5
BMW M3
BMW X5
Ford Mondeo
Honda Civic
Honda CR-V
Hyundai i30
Land Rover Freelander 2
Lexus LS
Mazda 2
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Mitsubishi Lancer
Nissan Dualis
Skoda Roomster
Nissan X-Trail
Subaru Impreza
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Kluger
Toyota Landcruiser
Volkswagen Eos



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Wheels Car of the Year Minisite: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Kudos!

Really wasn't expecting this result at all. In a recent review from Wheels the BMW 325i beat the C280 and yet the BMW 3 series didn't even make it to the last three in it's year...

Who cares actually. Well Done MB It is a great car!!!

PS. just beat you again monster Sorry mate

Tyc - Just wondering if we could post this on the front page news section? This is kind of the pinnacle of Australian motoring journalism. Would be good for it to get some notice!!!

I'll make the thread sticky.

Dam you CC !!!!! I was literally 60 sec slower than you, dam slow net connection. As soon as I saw it on TV I ran over to my comp and upload the story, but my dam slow net .

This was definitely a surprise result, I was thinking either the Mazda 2 or the Ford Mondeo will get the prize, with the M3 as an outside chance. I never saw the C-class as the winner. This will be huge for Mercedes Benz Australia and there will be plenty of discussion and argument over this. Definitely getting the mag tomorrow.

It's on the front page/GCZ home page now.

^ yeh I too was expecting either Mazda 2 or the Mondeo. The Clas never even crossed my mind as a winner.

Just punchded into my PDA then - Buy Wheels car magazine tomorrow

Thanks alot Tycoon

Great work Mercedes! The new C seems to be a gem!

Surprise result. Well done MB but

So whats next year? Audi A4?