Wheels magazine of Australia awarded its first Car of the Year award in 1963 to the Renault 8. Not surprisingly, Holden is the brand with the most COTY awards, taking the crown ten times. As far as models go, it’s a draw between the Volkswagen Golf and Mazda MX-5 for most wins, with three each.
The Honda Odyssey is the only minivan to be awarded by Wheels as COTY in 1995. Honda was also the first hybrid to be declared COTY by Wheels magazine with the CRZ in 2011. The first EV to win COTY was the BMW i3 in 2014, followed recently by the Mercedes EQC SUV in 2020. Wheels refused to crown a COTY winner in 1972, 1979, and 1986, deciding that no new cars were worthy of the coveted COTY award.
