1 week ago
15
Here is every new or updated model eligible 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 is a go!
Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Car Under $80K
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.
Which cars are eligible for this category?
Drive’s rules require that, for a car to be eligible, it must:
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 |
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:
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
