2009 Canadian Car of the Year Winners

2009 Canadian Car of the Year Winners

Which new cars and trucks are the best?

After five days of intense testing, the 2009 'Best New' award winners in 14 different vehicle categories were announced by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) at Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. A total of 65 all-new 2009 vehicles were evaluated back-to-back over five days in October by 80 members of AJAC.

2009 Overall Winners:

2009 Canadian Car of the Year: Hyundai Genesis. The Hyundai Genesis beat eleven other “best new” category winners to win the top prize.

2009 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year: Ford Flex. The Ford Flex was chosen over three other “best new” category winners from the Sport Utility / Crossover and Pick-up categories.

2009 Best New Design: Honda Fit. The other two condenders were the Jaguar XF Supercharged and the Volkswagen Passat CC.

2009 Best New Technology: Mitsubishi Super-All-Wheel Control technology, available on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. The other two contenders were General Motors OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown and the Infiniti Around View Monitor. Award presented by Shell Canada.

2009 Best New Green Technology: General Motors 2-mode Hybrid Powertrain. Award presented by Shell Canada.

The 2009 category winners are as follows:

BEST NEW SMALL CAR (under $18k): Toyota Corolla (Car of the Year #3)

BEST NEW SMALL CAR (over $18k): Pontiac Vibe

BEST NEW FAMILY CAR ($22k-$30k): Mazda6 (Car of the Year #2)

BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (over $30k): Volkswagen Passat CC

BEST NEW LUXURY CAR (under $50k): Hyundai Genesis (Car of the Year #1)

BEST NEW LUXURY CAR (over $50k): Audi A4

BEST NEW PRESTIGE CAR: Mercedes CL 550 and Mercedes SL 63 AMG (tie)

BEST NEW SPORTS / PERFORMANCE CAR (under $50k): BMW 135i Coupe

BEST NEW SPORTS / PERFORMANCE CAR (over $50k): Lexus IS F

BEST NEW CONVERTIBLE: Audi TTS

BEST NEW PICKUP TRUCK: Dodge Ram

BEST NEW SUV / CUV (under $35k): Subaru Forester (Utility Vehicle of the Year #3)

BEST NEW SUV / CUV ($35k-$60k): Ford Flex (Utility Vehicle of the Year #1)

BEST NEW SUV / CUV (over $60k): Mercedes-Benz M-Class BlueTEC (Utility Vehicle of the Year #2)

The 14 category winners listed above now go on to compete for the honour of being either the 2009 Canadian Car of the Year or the 2009 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year. These overall winners will be announced on February 11th, 2009, at the 2009 Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, ON. The 2009 Best New Design and Best New Technology winners will also be declared at that time.

The purpose of the AJAC awards is to provide consumers with a valuable resource that comprises comparative information on vehicles that are new to the market. Are consumers listening? It would appear so.

Maritz Research, on behalf of AJAC and in association with General Motors of Canada Ltd., conducted a survey of 2008 Buick Enclave purchasers to test their recognition of AJAC, the AJAC awards and the Buick Enclave as the winner of the Best New SUV Over $60,000 award for 2008.

Fully 74% of the 2008 Buick Enclave buyers who were aware of the AJAC Awards program when they purchased their vehicles knew that the Enclave was voted Best New SUV Over $60,000 - a record high-point for awareness. And of those buyers, 41% said the award had a positive influence on their buying decision. That is a concrete measure of how influential the AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Awards have become.

For that reason, the vote results that determined the winners are available on the AJAC website www.ajac.ca, for use by consumers as a resource buying guide when researching the purchase of a new car, truck, SUV, or CUV for 2009. (Still looking to buy a 2008 new car? AJAC archives the comparative test data and vote results from previous years on its website.)

For more information on the 2009 Canadian Car of the Year Awards, either visit the AJAC website, call the AJAC office at 1-800-361-1516, or send an e-mail to beth@ajac.ca.