GALLERY: All the winners from the NZ Car of the Year awards

1/16

Simon Rutherford, Ford NZ’s managing director, shows off the two awards won by the Ford Focus   

2/16

Murray West, left, ANZ relationship manager, and Kevin Loft, Suzuki NZ northern regional manager, after the Suzuki Swift Sport won the best micro/light car trophy   

3/16

Billy Van Der Mescht, left, BNT Group's commercial sales manager, and Ford NZ’s Simon Rutherford after the Ford Focus took out the small/compact car category  

4/16

Peugeot’s Alexandre Devillers, left, collected the medium/large car award for the Peugeot 508 from Phil Hibbert, Protecta Insurance chief executive officer  

5/16

ICG sales director Jason Hall, left, and Lance Bennett, Mercedes-Benz general manager, after the marque’s S-Class topped the luxury car class  

6/16

Jayne McEwan, Castrol's NZ marketing manager, left, and Neeraj Lala, Toyota NZ chief operating officer, after the Toyota Supra won the sports section  

7/16

Alan Leigh, left, Experieco chief executive officer, and Brittany Gardner, Volvo sales and marketing manager, after the Volvo XC40 was named best small SUV  

8/16

Steve Blay, left, Toyota’s GM operations, and Craig Burrows, GM Supercity Towing, after the Toyota RAV4 secured the medium SUV prize  

9/16

Euan Philpot, left, Jevic chief executive officer, and David Hodge, Mazda managing director, pose for the cameras after the Mazda CX-8 won the large SUV gong  

10/16

Darren Comrie, left, of Bluestar, helps Lance Bennett, Mercedes-Benz general manager, celebrate winning the luxury SUV section with the Mercedes-Benz GLE  

11/16

Trevor Sefont, left, Fleetline national sales manager, and Simon Rutherford, Ford NZ managing director, after the Ford Ranger won best in class for the utility category  

12/16

Craig Pomare, left, MTA chief executive, handed the best EV/plug-in hybrid trophy to Kurt Schlosser, Tesla country director, for the marque’s Model 3   

13/16

Andrew Clearwater, left, MITO board chairman, and Lance Bennett, Mercedes-Benz general manager, who holds the safest car trophy won by the Mercedes-Benz CLA  

14/16

Driven editor Dean Evans, left, and Neeraj Lala, Toyota NZ chief operating officer, are all smiles after the Toyota RAV4 won the people’s choice vote  

15/16

Stella Stocks, left, the AA’s general manager of motoring services, Simon Rutherford, Ford NZ managing director, and Greg Cassidy, Driven’s general manager digital ventures, after announcing the Ford Focus as the NZ Car of the Year winner  

16/16

Scotty Stevenson, who was MC at the awards, holds a bunch of flowers handed to the AA’s Stella Stocks while she gives a speech to the crowd  

There were smiles all round as carmakers and members of the motoring industry got together for the AA Driven NZ Car of the Year 2019 awards.

The Ford Focus was the toast of the ceremony after collecting two gongs, including the NZ Car of the Year title, which was won the previous year by the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

Representatives from the blue oval marque had further cause for celebration after the Ford Ranger won the best utility category.

Toyota and Mercedes-Benz also secured award hat-tricks during the cocktail event in Auckland on December 10, which was attended by hundreds of members of the motoring industry.