Holden Commodore 2015 News

Australian new car market roars to new sales heights, but post-election blues may put brakes on in back half of 2016

Ford has bled $1.05 billion in red ink over the past five years, as it prepares to shut its factories.

We're hungry for imports - SUVs above all - and cool on big sedans.

The Holden Commodore SS-V Redline was one of the 11 finalists chosen to compete for the 2015 CarsGuide Car of the Year crown.

The humble homegrown sedan may have been gobbled up by the all-conquering SUV but car makers are not prepared to give up on the family staple just yet.

My pick for COTY king this year is the Mercedes-Benz GLC.But it's not the COTY car or contest you might be thinking, since this is all about Bluetooth.We have 11 of the best cars of 2015 assembled for this year's COTY shootout and that makes it an ideal time and place to take a closer look at Bluetooth.The phone link has become a very big deal this year, with more and more driver distractions contributing to crashes and, in NSW, prompting the extension of double-demerit penalties.Now car testing also covers the vital Bluetooth connectivityEven the car companies are split, internally and externally, as some engineers push for more and more connectivity and others say the connected car is disconnecting people from driving and safety.Car testing has always been about comfort and safety and performance and economy — with value at the very top — but now it also covers app-friendly infotainment and the vital Bluetooth connectivity.Hyundai makes some excellent cars but its Bluetooth is patchy, at best, even on the latest Tucson. If you were choosing a phone-friendly car then a Hyundai would slip well down the list.So at COTY, with help from techno king Craig Duff, I go searching for my Bluetooth champion.The Mazda CX-3 is all right but booms in the cabin, the BMW X1 and the Commodore are workmanlike, the Jaguar XE is not great.I'm expecting a lot from the Sync system in the Ford Ranger and it's good, but difficult to connect. And so it goes. Until I jump into the Benz.The phone pairs instantly, delivers excellent clarity at both ends — I've been calling the same person to check — and the call display is good and clear. For me, it wins.

Kia's family seven-seater stands out, setting a precedent in a singular field.

There are few bad cars on the road these days, which made it tougher than ever to pick a field for CarsGuide's 2015 Car of the Year award.The process started in December last year. A week after we awarded the Mercedes-Benz C-Class our gong, we were on the launch of the new Subaru Outback.It was the first of more than 300 new cars we pored over before arriving at 11 finalists. In between there were head-to-head battles and three-way shootouts between the most impressive of the newcomers and the existing benchmarks.Comparison tests are vital because it's easy to come away from a new car launch impressed by Brand X's latest and greatest. But it takes back-to-back testing — on the same stretch of bitumen, same potholes, same freeway — to sort the winners from the also-rans.This year's COTY judging threw up a few surprises. The first was the CX-3. It felt good to drive on the launch and when we tested it against the best in its class, it also came out on top. Up against our other finalists, it felt underdone and overpriced. The conclusion? The mini-SUV may be the new "must-have" automotive accessory but none of the new breed — there have been six all-new arrivals this year — is as practical or fun to drive as a humble hatchback.Next was the BMW X1, which fellow judge Joshua Dowling called "the most un-BMW BMW I've driven". An SUV from a German luxury brand for a tad over $60,000 sounds like a good deal, especially when a Toyota Kluger can cost similar money.While much improved over its predecessors in some areas, the X1 was underdone in others. The seats, usually a BMW highlight, were flat and unsupportive, while the front suspension crashed rudely over bumps.To a much lesser extent the same criticism could be levelled at our runner-up, the Mercedes-Benz GLC. It is still an impressive vehicle but not as well sorted as the C-Class. In their quest for new buyers, are the luxury brands losing their luxuriousness?The surprises weren't all bad, though. The fact that the Ford Ranger made our final five is testimony to the huge advances made in one-tonne utes in recent years. The Ranger didn't feel a million miles off the rest of the field on our road loop.A decade ago, jumping out of a Volvo into a Ford ute would have been like trading the Merc for a Massey Ferguson. Not now.Which brings us to the last — and most pleasant — COTY surprise: the winner, Kia's Sorento. Ever since the Koreans pinched Audi's head designer, Kia cabins have looked a cut above their competitors. Local suspension tuning has made them ride better, while their diesel engines are on par with some of the best for refinement. Add an industry leading seven-year warranty and there's plenty to like.If you're put off by the badge on the nose, it's your loss. 

Forget Holden v Ford, the new car battle is Toyota Corolla versus Mazda3, and the Toyota now has an almost unassailable lead.

This year's line-up is a dream team of pace machines, heavy-hitters and all-rounders.