Australia's best selling fully imported medium car, Mazda6, has taken out the title of Best Medium Car at the 2009 Drive Car of the Year (dCOTY) awards.

The award, bestowed by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Drive.com.au went to the stylish and feature-packed Mazda6 Classic.

Other category contenders included Ford Mondeo, Subaru Liberty 2.5i Sports and Toyota Prius.

Judges agreed that the Mazda6 was deserved of the crown due to its consistent performance across all of the key judging criteria including value-for-money, economy, driving performance and dynamics, safety and practicality.

Drive experts were also impressed by Mazda6's styling, interior user-friendliness, quality feel and competitive space.

Doug Dickson, Managing Director of Mazda Australia, accepted the award on behalf of Australia's best-selling full-line importer.

"We are absolutely delighted to receive this award for Mazda6," said Dickson. "It is further confirmation of Mazda6's position as a benchmark mid-size car in what is a highly competitive segment."

Starting from just $28,245 Mazda6 is available in three body styles (sedan, hatch and wagon) and offers a choice of two powertrains: a 2.5 litre naturally aspirated petrol and a 2.2 litre turbodiesel.

This is the fourth year of the dCOTY awards and the seventh win for Mazda.

For more information contact:

Steve Maciver
Public Relations Manager
(03) 8540 1961
0437 125 589
smaciver@mazda.com.au

Lydia Richards
Media Communications Manager
(03) 8540 1962
0439 347 658
lrichards@mazda.com.au