AA DRIVEN NZ COTY 2023 finalists: the best Luxury vehicles of the year

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It’s AA DRIVEN Car Guide New Zealand Car of the Year time again! We’ll be awarding wins in 11 different categories, acknowledging the overwhelming preference for all things SUV but also with a focus on eco-cars and technology.

There are Small SUV, Medium SUV, Large SUV, Passenger, LCV, Clean Car HEV/PHEV/BEV, Sports and Performance, Luxury and Safety categories, not to mention the outright AA DRIVEN Car Guide NZ COTY – which will of course be one of the top three cars chosen from those categories.

We continue the programme this week by announcing the finalists in the Luxury category.

Top three Luxury vehicles of 2023

Hey, let’s treat ourselves: the Luxury category is all about the ultimate in quality, technology and refinement. It’s not that value for money doesn’t matter, but the main thing is that comfort should not be compromised.

BMW i7 is an AA DRIVEN Car Guide NZ COTY finalist.
Pure-electric BMW i7 goes big on everything from refinement to price.

The BMW i7 takes the traditional 7-Series formula and transforms it into futuristically imperious techno-marvel. It’s even available in pure electric form now, which provides the ultimate in refinement – as well as the ability for this 5.4m-long machine to sprint to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

Up front is impressive, but of the back is the place you might want to be: vast legroom, sumptuous trim and armrest-mounted touchscreens for your convenience.

Lexus RZ is an AA DRIVEN Car Guide NZ COTY finalist.
Lexus RZ EV is a super-refined sister model to popular RX.

Toyota’s luxury brand is known for its electrification and refinement, but the Lexus RZ is next-level. A sister model to the RX hybrid range, it’s a bespoke pure-electric SUV that shares much of its platform and powertrain technology with the Toyota bZ4X, but also goes its own way with styling and interior design/quality.

Maerati is an AA DRIVEN Car Guide NZ COTY finalist.
Italian flair, but quality and luxury too in Maserati Grecale.

Maserati has undergone a renaissance in recent years and the Maserati Grecale SUV is the latest demonstration of its increasing all-round excellence. A medium SUV with a sporting bent, it still offers incredible luxury and cutting-edge standard equipment – such as a four-screen layout in the cabin and a traditional-looking clock that actually doubles as a digital notification centre.

After you have shared your opinion on luxury vehicles, why not vote in our AA DRIVEN Car Guide NZ Car of the Year Peoples Choice award to go into the draw to win $5000 of fuel/charge credit, below.