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Hold it! Before telling you about the most recent recipient of Japan’s Car of the Year Award, let us first take a look at what it is and its history of winners. It is an award given to vehicles both newly released and redesigned, that have been released to the Japanese market from November 1 of the previous year to the 31st of October of the current year. Japanese automotive journalists and motoring experts make up the supervisory board. 1980s The award was first presented in 1980. The Mazda Familia was the first to receive the award, followed by the Toyota Soarer, Mazda Capella, Honda Civic, Toyota MR2, Honda Accord, Nissan Pulsar, Mitsubishi Galant, Nissan Silvia, and the Toyota Celsior. Some of those models are still on the road today, such as the Civic, Accord, and Galant. 1990s Taking the award for 1990-1991 is the Mitsubishi Diamante, followed by the Honda Civic, Nissan March, Honda Accord, Mitsubishi FTO, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Prius, Toyota Altezza, and the Toyota Vitz. What have you noticed? There are models that won the award again, such as the Civic and the Galant. This goes to show the quality of these models, making them the best cars of their time. Also, this is the decade when the world welcomed the Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid car. It’s interesting that the model went on to win as Japan Car of the Year a few months after it was launched in 1997. 2000s Of course, the Japanese consumers haven’t forgotten the Civic yet, and their loyalty to the ever-reliable model made it nab the award for 2000-2001. Honda’s Fit subcompact won the next year, followed by the Accord, Subaru Legacy, Honda Legend, Mazda MX-5, Lexus LS430, Honda Fit, Toyota iQ, and the Toyota Prius. We welcome here Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus and Subaru, a brand that is slowly but steadily making a name for itself in the auto industry. There’s something missing though: Mitsubishi, the company that has won the award years before. What do you think happened to it? Recent winners The winners of the past three years are as follows: for 2010-2011, we have the Honda CR-Z; for 2011-2012 there’s the Nissan Leaf; and the last recipient of Japan’s Car of the Year award is the Mazda CX-5 compact crossover. The CR-Z won because of its unique body design and ability to balance driving pleasure and fuel efficiency. The Leaf was praised for being eco-friendly—it’s 100% electric, meaning it doesn’t consume gas, and therefore has zero carbon dioxide emissions. The CX-5 won over the judges with its distinct Kodo design, SkyActiv technology, great handling, and economical, clean diesel engine. Voting Rules Voting is done by a panel of 60 jurors. Each juror is given 25 votes/points to cast. The juror gives 10 votes to their highest-rated car, and the remaining 15 votes will be spread among their next four cars. The Mazda CX-5 garnered a total of 363 votes; it was followed by the Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ with 318 votes. The Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ received a Special Award. Which vehicle model do you think will win next year’s Japan’s Car of the Year award?
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