Canadian Car of the Year finalists announced

[SVT666]

Canadian Car of the Year finalists announced

The shortlist of finalists for 2009 Canadian Car of the Year were announced yesterday. To be very honest, out of the 50+ vehicles eligible for competing, it was pretty obvious which vehicles would make the final cut.

The top three cars in the running for 2009 Canadian Car of the Year are the Hyundai Genesis, the Mazda6 and the Toyota Corolla. Each of these vehicles also won the top honours in their respective segment; the Hyundai won Best New Luxury Car (under $50k); the Mazda6 won Best New Family Car ($22k-$30k), and the Corolla won Best New Small Car (under $18k).

The title of Car of the Year is likely to be a pretty close fight to the end. Hyundai?s Genesis has lived up to its hype, winning the title  of 2009 North American Car of the Year. Mazda?s 6 has always fared well in the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) awards; the previous generation won three ?Best New? awards, each respective body style picking up a trophy. Though the Corolla doesn?t have the same track record as far as AJAC awards go, this latest model is well equipped with safety features and is priced extremely competitively - something that should appeal to Canadians looking for solid, affordable transportation.

The top three finalists for 2009 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year are the Ford Flex, Mercedes-Benz M-Class BlueTEC, and the Subaru Forester. As with the aforementioned cars, these utility vehicles cleaned up in their respective category, each walking off with a ?Best New? award.

The tile of Best New Design is also a three-way race between the Volkswagen Passat CC, the Jaguar XF Supercharged and the Honda Fit.

Last but not least, candidates for Best New Technology include GM?s OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, the Infiniti Around View monitor, and Mitsubishi?s Super-All-Wheel Control all-wheel-drive system, which is featured on the new Lancer Evolution.

The overall winners will be revealed on February 11, the first media day at the 2009 Canadian International Auto Show.

[CJ]

Genesis. 

[Payman]

VW CC should win best new design. I looked at one a few weeks ago and it's incredible. I want a 2.0T CC.

[CJ]

They're TOO expensive.

[Raza]

VW CC should win best new design. I looked at one a few weeks ago and it's incredible. I want a 2.0T CC.

They are nice.  I was not as excited the first time I saw one, but I was fatigued that day, and was mostly pissed that an oil change and visual inspection was taking three hours.

[Submariner]

VW CC should win best new design. I looked at one a few weeks ago and it's incredible. I want a 2.0T CC.

Even though it's an older design slightly rehashed.

That being said, it looks really, really good.  I wouldn't mind owning a 6-speed. 

[NomisR]

I might've missed it, but who picks and vote on this? 

[SVT666]

I might've missed it, but who picks and vote on this? 

Canadian Automotive Journalists.

[giant_mtb]

I saw a Genesis in person yesterday.  Just about shit my pants.

...in a good way.

[CJ]

They look stunning, especially in black, that red/maroon, and blue. 

[giant_mtb]

The one I saw was black.  And it was clean.  Mmmm.  If only I had had my camera with me.