Mazda's Triple Treat at 2011 Drive Car of the Year Awards

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – Nov 24, 2011: All-New Mazda BT-50 and the Mazda3 SP20 SKYACTIV have come out on top in no less than three categories at the 2011 Drive Car of the Year awards.

Leading the way was the All-New BT-50 which, in its first full month on sale, was awarded the title of Best Utility.

In a hard fought win over the Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok and Holden SS Ute, the BT-50 earned plaudits from Drive Car of the Year judges for its refinement, performance and safety.

However, it was the BT-50’s strong value also gave Mazda’s ute a significant advantage over the other contenders.

The good news for Mazda’s all- new utility doesn’t end there. The BT-50 was also presented with the Safety Innovation Award in recognition of important safety features such as a full complement of airbags plus Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) being made standard across the BT-50 range.

Mazda’s recently-launched SKYACTIV technology also received recognition from the Drive Car of the Year judges with the Mazda3 SP20 SKYACTIV taking out the Green Innovation Award.

In addition to offering increased performance levels, the Mazda3 SP20 delivers class-leading fuel efficiency of just 6.1 litres per 100km using regular unleaded fuel.

These impressive efficiency figures combined with sharp pricing and praise for the i-stop idle stop system was enough to convince the judges of another win for Mazda.

Mazda Australia managing director, Doug Dickson was delighted to see such recognition for the company’s newest cars.

“To create the All-New BT-50, new Mazda3 and SKYACTIV Technology has taken the efforts of many people. We were quietly confident that both cars set a new benchmark and would meet the needs of our buyers but to get the recognition from an independent and respected organisation like Drive is very pleasing.”