AJAC Announces Category Winners for Canadian Car of the Year and Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year

MONTREAL, Jan. 18, 2018 /CNW/ - Seven vehicle manufacturers moved closer today to winning the ultimate accolades of 2018 Canadian Car of the Year and 2018 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year. Their wins in 14 different categories were announced during media day of the Montreal International Auto Show / Salon de l'Auto.

The big winners were Mazda and Jaguar Land Rover, with three wins each. Honda/Acura, Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles won two categories each.

Category winners were chosen by nearly 100 voting members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada, who assessed the vehicles throughout the year by driving them and testing them in a variety of conditions. They were scored anonymously on many different factors, including performance, features, technology, design, fuel consumption and value for money, and the highest scorers in each category were declared the winners.

"Our voting policy was changed this year to make it more relevant for today's car buyers," said AJAC President Mark Richardson. "Our journalists are all experts in their automotive fields, and I'm very proud of their ability to help people decide on the best new vehicles to buy in 2018."

All 14 category winners are now eligible to be considered for either Canadian Car of the Year or Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, which will be determined by a separate round of voting. The winners will be announced next month, on media day of the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto on Feb. 15.

Category winners announced today are:

BEST CITY CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Volkswagen e-Golf

BEST SMALL CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Mazda3

BEST LARGE CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Honda Accord

BEST SMALL PREMIUM CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Jaguar XE

BEST LARGE PREMIUM CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Volvo S90 / V90

BEST SPORTS - PERFORMANCE CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Volkswagen Golf R

BEST PREMIUM SPORTS - PERFORMANCE CAR IN CANADA FOR 2018
Jaguar F-TYPE

BEST CONVERTIBLE IN CANADA FOR 2018
Mercedes-Benz SL

BEST SMALL UTILITY VEHICLE IN CANADA FOR 2018
Mazda CX-5

BEST LARGE UTILITY VEHICLE IN CANADA FOR 2018
Mazda CX-9

BEST SMALL PREMIUM UTILITY VEHICLE IN CANADA FOR 2018
Range Rover Velar

BEST LARGE PREMIUM UTILITY VEHICLE IN CANADA FOR 2018
Acura MDX

BEST MINIVAN IN CANADA FOR 2018
Chrysler Pacifica

BEST PICK-UP TRUCK IN CANADA FOR 2018
Ram 1500

Photography is available at ajac.ca.

ABOUT AJAC
The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) is an association of professional journalists, writers, photographers, and corporate members whose focus is the automobile and the Canadian automotive industry. Collectively, our primary objectives are to promote, encourage, support, and facilitate professionalism in Canadian automotive journalism and to ensure factual and ethical reporting about the automobile and automotive issues to Canadian consumers. This is achieved through the work of our members and AJAC's annual vehicle testing and evaluation events, the Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY), Canadian Green Car of the Year Awards, Innovation Awards, and EcoRun.

SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada