{"id":3745,"date":"2023-02-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/?p=3745"},"modified":"2023-02-16T13:42:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T00:42:27","slug":"byd-atto-3-named-new-zealand-car-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/coty\/byd-atto-3-named-new-zealand-car-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"BYD Atto 3 named New Zealand Car of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NAMING of the BYD Atto 3 as New Zealand Car of the Year stands as an affirmation of China\u2019s emergence as a powerhouse maker of electric cars, most for everyday motorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In announcing the compact fully-electric compact five-seater as 35th winner of its annual award, the New Zealand Motoring Writers\u2019 Guild believes its COTY is a global first for the \u2018Build Your Dreams\u2019  brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAtto 3 has won category awards, including in this country, but our award appears to be the maiden national car of the year for this model and for BYD,\u201d says Guild president Richard Bosselman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecuring the country\u2019s most prestigious, longest-running, and important industry award is huge, but this is particularly special recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNZ was one of BYD\u2019s first export destinations \u2013 the brand was little known, Atto 3 is their only car here and has been on sale for less than a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor it to have made such a powerful impact so immediately is quite something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atto 3\u2019s affordability was a factor recognised by the judges when determining it to be the best of 12 high-quality finalists, all chosen from a much broader count of product released nationally over the past calendar year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAtto 3 resonates as a product competing for the attention of budget-minded buyers through offering good range from an advanced battery,\u201d Bosselman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Guild also recognises it as a solidly-engineered car, offering good technologies and an interesting styling approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In two specifications respectively pricing at just over $50,000 and just under $54,000 when the Government\u2019s Clean Car rebate is applied, Atto 3 is in a lower spending band than the three previous electric cars honoured by the Peter Greenslade Trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a reminder of how bullish China\u2019s electric car industry is, Bosselman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe EV sector moves at a rapid pace and this year NZ will see some exciting new product from other global involvers, but China remains one to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdoption of \u2018new-energy vehicles\u2019 is a domestic priority and an increasing count of makers there are exporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBYD has enjoyed colossal growth and reaped spectacular rewards. It was the world\u2019s biggest seller of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in 2022 with a total of 1.86 million sales \u2013 the vast majority in China. It was well ahead of top rival, Tesla.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brand itself only founded in 1995, to make batteries for consumer electronics then branched into car production in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key to BYD\u2019s success has been its battery technology \u2013 known as the ‘blade’ due to the long, thin shape \u2013 which uses only lithium, iron and phosphate, materials that are all abundant in the Earth\u2019s crust, while avoiding controversial metals such as cobalt and nickel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBYD Auto New Zealand is incredibly proud to receive this award,\u201d says Warren Willmot, national brand manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur customers have taken a leap of faith with a new brand, of which most of wouldn\u2019t have heard of seven months ago. This award cements their purchasing decision was in line with expert opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car\u2019s acceptance of over-the-air software updates ensures it \u201cwill get better the longer you own the vehicle. Every update brings new features and refinement. Our early customers have all now received their Vehicle to Load adapters (free with every car) and our BYD App is due to roll out shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery BYD Atto 3 on the road potentially replaces an internal combustion engine vehicle, moving us towards a Greener future and BYD\u2019s ultimate global goal of cooling the Earth by one degree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judges considered how a vehicle performs its intended role; its styling, interior design and accommodation; fit, finish and quality; ride and refinement; performance; road-holding and handling; value for money; active and passive safety and environmental responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in the hunt were the BMW iX, Ford Everest, Hyundai i20 N, Kia EV6 and Kia Sportage, Lexus NX, Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Mitsubishi Outlander, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Said Bosselman: \u201cThat we elected to consider 12 finalists for the 2022 award rather than the usual top 10 says much. There is one winner, but my sentiment is there were no poor choices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The award is open to all passenger vehicles launched over a 12-month period. Finalists required evaluation on a full road test by more than two-thirds of the 20 voting members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Peter Greenslade Trophy recognizes the memory and contribution of the late Peter Greenslade, a highly respected New Zealand motoring writer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feature image: Warren Willmot, brand manager BYD Auto New Zealand, with the Peter Greenslade Trophy, the New Zealand Car of the Year award, decided annually by the New Zealand Motoring Writers\u2019 Guild.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAMING of the BYD Atto 3 as New Zealand Car of the Year stands as an affirmation of China\u2019s emergence as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3745"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3754,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3745\/revisions\/3754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}