2017 Car of the Year: Australian Motoring Awards Night

Step inside the Australian Motoring Awards as Wheels crowns its 2017 Car of the Year alongside MOTOR Performance Car of the Year (Porsche 911 Turbo S), 4x4 Of The Year (Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series) and the WhichCar Style Award (Audi A4).

This year Australia’s most prestigious automotive prize was presented by Wheels to Mazda, making it back to back victories for the Japanese brand with the all-new Mazda CX-9 seven-seater following in the footsteps of last year’s winner, the Mazda MX-5.

Comedian Shane Jacobson hosted the evening. Special guests included star of the silver screen, and genuine motoring fanatic (and former COTY guest judge Eric Bana, and legendary former Wheels editor Peter Robinson.

More than 200 industry guests were surrounded by the COTY finalists inside the Crown Palladium in Melbourne. The announcement of the winner wrapped up months of planning, testing, examination, voting, and secrecy for the 54th running of COTY.

Victory for the Mazda CX-9 makes it eight Car of the Year wins for Mazda in total. It beat the brilliant Audi A4 and exceptional Mercedes-Benz E-Class in the final round of voting. The top six included the Holden Astra, Subaru Impreza and VW Tiguan.

Check out the video above for your seat at the table.