Presented by MTF Finance
We're on a mission to find the Car of the Decade and we want your help. Vote for the best cars of the last 10 years and you'll be in to win $2500 for fuel or EV charging.
We've selected finalists in nine categories: Ute, Game Changer, Family SUV, Hybrid/EV, Aussie Big Six, Sports/Performance, Urban, Luxury and... Dud of the Decade.
If you want to read more about the finalists in any of those categories, click on the relevant blue words above. If you want to go straight to the voting page and have your say, you can do that here.
But right now, let's take a look at the contenders for Automotive Game Changer of the Decade.
Tesla FSD (2026-)
We were blown away by how accomplished Tesla full self driving (FSD) was when we first tested it earlier this year. We’ve since tried it in multiple models and environments, and we’re still deeply impressed.
Just to be clear, it’s full self driving (supervised), because there must always be a driver in charge of the vehicle, ready to take over if needed. It won’t operate without that. But in practice, FSD can pretty much get you where you want to go all by itself.
We’ve spent years telling people proper self-driving is a long way off. Along comes Tesla with its camera-based AI systems and suddenly, we’re in the future. Whatever next, flying cars?
Phone projection (Apple 2014-, Android 2015-)
Such a simple thing. But phone projection, by which we mainly mean Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, has revolutionised the relationship between mobile device and car.
Phone projection brings selected phone apps from your personal device directly into the car’s infotainment system, which benefits everything from text messaging to navigation.
Many systems are now wireless. And because of that, phone charging pads are fast becoming a must-have. Phone projection has been the catalyst for a lot of change. We're geting pretty used to the idea of modern cars as digital devices, but the concept really got going here.
Clean Car Discount (2022-23)
Yes, yes, it caused a real mess in the end. But bear with us.
The Government’s Clean Car Discount (CCD) “feebate” scheme, which rewarded buyers of zero/low-emission vehicles with cashbacks funded by fines on heavy polluters, created a major push towards EVs and helped establish the technology as viable and desirable.
You could argue it was also the making of some Chinese brands like BYD and MG, which in turn helped pave the way for others.
Withdrawing the CCD wreaked havoc on both the industry and consumers, as sales and residual values collapsed. But longer-term, we think we’ll look back on it as a crucial moment in time for the Kiwi EV story.