Drive Car of the Year 2024 – Best Urban Car Under $30,000 in Competition
Find out which cars are eligible for the Drive Car of the Year 2024 – Best Urban Car Under $30,000 category
Over the next few weeks, we will break down all the categories and contenders for Drive Car of the Year 2024. Testing is currently underway, and the final winners will be announced early next year.
Driving the car for the year 2024
Now in its eighteenth year, the annual Driving this year’s car The awards program remains the most trusted advisor for Australian new car buyers.
in Driving, we test drive more than 200 new cars every year, evaluating each one according to its innate promise of distinguishing the best from the rest. We divide more than 400 new passenger cars, SUVs, and SUVs into 19 price-specific, end-user-focused categories, then analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each vehicle to find the best of the crop.
Read more:
Get the Best Car of 2024 award!
Car of the year overview
Drive Car of the Year 2023 Winners
Best Car of 2024: Best urban car under $30,000
To be crowned The best urban car under $30,000, the vehicle must offer the best combination of equipment, safety and efficiency at a sharp price in a compact and practical body. In essence, urban new car buyers want hassle-free compact cars with a balance of features and price.
This category is new for 2024, combining the best of the small, light and micro passenger car categories with light SUVs. The target buyer is very budget-conscious, driven by a steep recommended retail price of under $30,000, cheap running costs and a compact, city-friendly footprint for getting in and out of tight spaces.
Since this is a new category that has never been competed in before, every car currently on sale that meets the above criteria is eligible. So, we’ve got everything from the fun and funky – and newly updated – Fiat 500 to sales runaways like the MG 3, Kia Cerato and Hyundai i30.
The only Europeans at the pointier end of the market are the aforementioned Fiat 500 and the impressive Volkswagen Polo, both of which prove that you can get continental traits for a low price.
What cars qualify for this category?
The Drive rules require that for a vehicle to be eligible, it must:
- be completely new or significantly updated,
- It will go on sale by December 31, 2023 and
- Retail examples will be provided for Driving To road test before this deadline.
The Hyundai i30 sedan would have a hard time taking on the Kia Cerato, which is a stablemate of the Hyundai i30 (Hyundai and Kia share many components) and comes with a longer warranty and more pronounced service costs.
Likewise, it’s hard to go past the myriad charms of the Toyota Yaris Cross hatchback, especially in the economy GX hybrid trim. Toyota’s ability to give consumers exactly what they need is almost legendary, and the promise of fuss-free cars inherent in the brand is one of the reasons it is Australia’s favorite car maker.
Below is a list of eligible vehicles, drawn from FCAI’s Passenger Micro, Passenger Light, Passenger Small and SUV Light vehicle categories, with a retail price of less than $30,000. Please note that in some cases, the price range of a vehicle exceeds the class ceiling. In these cases, only models priced below the maximum are eligible.
| righteous | not qualified |
| – Cars that are completely new or have been significantly updated since they last competed for Drive Car of the Year. – New classes open to all cars that fit the class requirements. – Last year’s winner was automatic inclusion. |
– These cars meet the category requirements but are unchanged since they previously competed for Drive Car of the Year and were not carryover winners. |
| Fiat 500 Hyundai i30 Hyundai place Kia Cerato Kia Picanto Let’s go to Rio Kia Stonic Mazda 2 Mazda CX-3 MG 5 MG 3 Nissan Juke Suzuki Ignis Suzuki Swift Toyota Corolla Toyota Yaris Toyota Yaris Cross Volkswagen Polo |
None – This is a new category |
Winner in 2024 Car of the Year, Best Urban Car Under $30,000 It will be announced in February 2024.
Before then, we’ll announce the finalists, all of which live up to buyer expectations of cost-effective urban driving. One thing is for sure: this category promises to be one of the toughest for the 11 experienced judges to face.
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