Three Aussie cars ruled out of award.....

[DJR-351]

THREE Australian built cars have been ruled out of the Wheels Car of the Year Award for 2012.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/bre...-1226501784642

Wheels deputy editor Jesse Taylor said the Ford Falcon Ecoboost, Toyota Camry and the Toyota Aurion were all ruled to be not new enough under the magazine's criteria.

The Nissan Almera fell to the same fate while a supercar from McLaren and a luxury model from Bentley were also ruled out as sales did not reach the required level.

"The cars that win this award need to satisfy the criteria," Mr Taylor said.

"It has never been a comparison test between the contenders, only against the criteria."

Of the 39 cars that started on the Wheels list, 27 will go through to the next round of judging before the finalists are revealed on November 21.

Those still in contention include Holden's Volt electric/petrol model, the BMW 3Series, the Toyota Prius, the Volkswagen Up, the Subaru Impreza, the Porsche 911 and the Lexus GS.

The cars that make the shortlist will be judged against five criteria - function, technology, efficiency, safety and value.

The Wheels award is now in its 50th year and broke new ground in 2011 with Honda's CR-Z becoming the first hybrid car to take the prize.

The award has also been withheld on three occasions, in 1972, 79 and 86.