The BYD Atto 3 has been announced as the New Zealand Motoring Writers' Guild Car of the Year, making the fully-electric compact SUV the 35th winner of its annual award.
While the brand (which stands for "Build Your Dreams") was previously unknown and completely new to New Zealand, the Atto 3 has taken the burgeoning Kiwi EV market by storm, selling remarkably well in its maiden year thanks to its blend of sharp pricing that is on par with many petrol or diesel SUVs, high levels of standard equipment and excellent build quality.
BYD's battery tech is also deeply impressive, with the company's proprietary battery technology being a strong selling point for the brand. BYD's 'Blade' batteries - so called due to their long, thin shape – only lithium, iron and phosphate, materials that are all abundant in the Earth’s crust, while avoiding controversial metals such as cobalt and nickel, while also offering superior capacity from a smaller footprint that more conventional batteries.
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“New Zealand was one of BYD’s first export destinations – the brand was little known, Atto 3 is their only car here and has been on sale for less than a year," said Guild president Richard Bosselman. “For it to have made such a powerful impact so immediately is quite something.”
Bosselman said that the Atto 3’s affordability was a factor recognised by the judges when determining it to be the best of 12 finalists, all chosen from cars released locally during 2022.
“Atto 3 resonates as a product competing for the attention of budget-minded buyers through offering good range from an advanced battery,” Bosselman said.
The Atto 3 is available in New Zealand in a single specification and a choice of two different battery sizes, with the 50kWh version costing $58,990 and the 60kWh version costing $62,490. This is, of course, before the $8675 Clean Car rebate is applied. While the Atto 3 is the first car the company had launched in new Zealand, more are planned, with the smaller Dolphin hatchback and Seal compact sedan planned to land here sometime this year.
“BYD Auto New Zealand is incredibly proud to receive this award,” said Warren Willmot, national brand manager.
“Our customers have taken a leap of faith with a new brand, of which most of wouldn’t have heard of seven months ago. This award cements their purchasing decision was in line with expert opinions.”
“Every BYD Atto 3 on the road potentially replaces an internal combustion engine vehicle, moving us towards a Greener future and BYD’s ultimate global goal of cooling the Earth by one degree.”
The other finalists in the NZMG award were the BMW iX, Ford Everest, Hyundai i20 N, Kia EV6, Kia Sportage, Lexus NX, Mercedes-AMG EQS 53, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Mitsubishi Outlander, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model Y.
Notably absent from the Guild shortlist was the AA DRIVEN NZ Car of the Year winner, the Ford Ranger, as the NZMWG excludes utes, because it argues they are not technically "cars".
In a previous article we asked you for your opinion on which car from the NZMWG shortlist - AND our selection of the Ranger - deserved the win and, at the time of publication of this article, the Kia EV6 had a strong lead, with the Atto 3 in second ahead of the Ranger. Because the NZMWG was initially going to announce its winner on Friday, but brought the announcement forward, we will update the poll results on Friday - in the meantime, the poll is below, so vote away!
