Welcome to Car of the Year 2022

Yeah, we know. It’s late. Your unwanted acquaintance and ours, The Novel Coronavirus, is to blame. But that’s boring, so let’s not dwell.

This week we announce the Wheels Car of the Year for 2022!

While the announcement will take place on the morning of Thursday April 14, the lead up will take you through our 21 contenders, introduce you to our six expert judges, detail our five COTY criteria, and walk you through the testing process.

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Then, once you know which hopeful takes home the COTY trophy this year, the runners-up get their time in the spotlight, and the rest of the field's shortcomings are examined.

The what, the why, and the how will be delved into, and we'll lay out the data gathered through testing week, with speed, weight, and noise all carefully measured.

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There are a couple of differences for COTY this year, the biggest being an emphasis on testing one variant instead of a model's entire range. Why? Because sometimes a lacklustre base model can detract from a well-equipped mid-range variant. Or an expensive halo trim can overshadow a properly good-value simple-spec.

We were back at the well-equipped Australian Automotive Research Centre, with a crew of dozens on hand to help, test, clean, photograph, present, and film.

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Finally, the results from a week of hard work from our team are ready for you.

2022 Wheels Car of the Year revealed!