Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Car Under $80K finalists announced – UPDATE
Here is every finalist in the running for the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Car Under $80K category.
Drive Car of the Year 2025
Now in its 20th year, the annual Drive Car of the Year awards program continues to be the Australian new car buyer’s most-trusted advisor.
At Drive, we test drive more than 200 new cars every year, evaluating each against its innate promise to sort the best from the rest. We divide the 400-plus new passenger cars, SUVs, 4WDs and utes into 19 price-banded categories focused on the end-user. Then we analyse the strengths and weaknesses of every car to find the cream of the automotive crop.
Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Car Under $80K
UPDATE, 17 December 2024 – FINALISTS CONFIRMED
Though judges didn’t necessarily need to vote for finalists this year in this category, given there are only two contenders, it was still interesting to dissect the Best Family Car Under $80K category of the 2025 Drive Car of the Year awards.
Naturally, the Kia Carnival and Ford Tourneo make it to the finalists’ round, by default, but the key attributes of value and practicality hold for both models, as well as being able to transport eight passengers and featuring a monocoque chassis.
Ford delivers a class-leading experience with its Transit Custom van, so does adding extra seats and turning it into a people mover find the same success?
Well, we’ve not driven one on local soil just yet, but our taste on international roads has left us curious to see if the diesel-powered Tourneo can step it up to the reigning Kia Carnival champion.
Priced from $65,990 before on-road costs for the Active, and $70,990 for the top-spec Titanium X, the Tourneo is positioned well, but it’s on Ford Australia to offer up its new people mover for Drive Car of the Year testing before the cutoff if it wants the trophy.
Returning this year for contention is the Kia Carnival, but unlike last year there have been major changes to the long-running nameplate.
The introduction of a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain might get all the headlines, but the changes to ride and handling across the line-up are most noticeable to owners day-to-day.
Styling tweaks and equipment changes were also rolled out in 2024, making the Kia Carnival even harder to beat as the premiere choice for families of six or more.
Read more about the Kia Carnival here, and see why the 2024 Drive Car of the Year Best Family Car Under $80K victory went Kia’s way here.
The Drive Car of the Year Best Family Car Under $80K winner will be announced on 24 February 2025.
The below was published on 13 November 2024:
Here at Drive, we live and breathe cars – everything from the humble city hatchback all the way to six-figure electric supercars – but we also understand that that might not be everyone's jam.
Most contemporary family buyers just want something safe, with enough practicality and useability, that will get them and theirs from A to B in comfort without breaking the bank.
In the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Car Under $80K category, we dissect everything that you would want out of a new vehicle that can transport eight more passengers for those not wanting to break the bank. As a category specifically for large families, or regular extended-family use we've specified eight seats (or more) as part of the entry criteria in 2025.
Crucially, this category is people movers and road-focussed SUV models, with ladder-frame chassis vehicles covered in the Best Off-Road SUV Under $80K category.
Last year, the Kia Carnival took out top honours – competing against the LDV Mifa and Mazda CX-90 – and with an update introduced earlier in 2024, the South Korean people mover is in with a shot to win the category again, but not without a fight on its hands.
Not to be outdone, the final contender to take out the Best Family Car Under $80K category this year is the Ford Tourneo – basically a Transit Custom van kitted out to accommodate eight passengers.
The caveat here is that the Tourneo is due to launch in December, so if there are any delays in arrivals it will be ineligible for testing this year.
Still, offering a 125kW/390Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and the ability to remove all but two seats to make the Ford flexible as a workhorse van and people-carrying transport, which may be a boon for some.
FAQs
Which cars are eligible for this category?
Drive’s rules require that, for a car to be eligible, it must:
- Be all-new or significantly updated.
- Be on sale with customer deliveries commenced by 31 December 2024.
- Retail examples be made available for Drive to road test before that cut-off date.
- Pricing cut-offs exclude discounts and limited-time offers.
To be eligible to compete in the Best Family Car Under $80K category, the contenders need to meet strict criteria.
Naturally, a starting recommended retail price (RRP) before on-road costs of under $80,000 is a given, even if the drive-away price creeps over that threshold, but all models also need to offer a minimum of eight seats.
Models must also be sufficiently updated or all-new, and because of the monocoque underpinnings requirements, leaves just two contenders in the running this year.
| Eligible | Not here in time |
| – Cars that are all-new or significantly updated since they last contested Drive Car of the Year. – New categories are open to all cars that fit category requirements. – Last year’s winner is an automatic inclusion. | – These cars meet category requirements but are not due to arrive in time for Drive Car of the Year 2025 judging. |
| Kia Carnival (defending) Ford Tourneo | Hyundai Palisade |
What are the next steps?
The winner of the 2025 Drive Car of the Year – Best Family Car Under $80K will be announced in February 2025.
Before then, we will announce the finalists, all of which deliver practicality, usability and value for a contemporary family buyer.
Read more:
