Best New Automotive Innovations for 2019 Announced by Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

Winners celebrated at Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto

TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2019 /CNW/ - The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) announced today the winners of its 2019 Innovation Awards at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto. The winners are:

Best Green Innovation – Infiniti, for the VC-Turbo engine.

Best Safety Innovation – Subaru, for DriverFocus.

Best Technical Innovation – Mercedes-Benz, for Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX).

"The Innovation Awards now recognize safety, environmental awareness and technology," said Mark Richardson, President, Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. "This is an opportunity to recognize the very best and most innovative examples of new automotive products available to Canadian drivers."

In 2018, AJAC members nominated 30 different automotive innovations for consideration. The awards were judged by a panel of nine journalists who specialize in automotive technology. They independently reviewed briefs on all nominated entries, and from that initial review the jurors established a short list of finalists in each category.  In late October, they convened for a day of presentations and questioning with manufacturer representatives on each of the short-listed entries.  The jurors then voted a second time by secret ballot.

As with the Canadian Car of the Year awards program, these votes were compiled and authenticated by accounting firm KPMG.

Infiniti's VC-Turbo engine is the world's first production-ready variable compression ratio engine and one of the most advanced internal combustion engines ever created. More than 20 years in development, it represents a major breakthrough in internal-combustion powertrain technology. It delivers the power of a high-performance 2.0-liter turbo gasoline engine with a high level of efficiency.

Subaru's DriverFocus utilizes a camera angled at the driver's face and facial recognition software to monitor fatigue or lack of attention. When the driver begins to lose focus, DriverFocus immediately sends out a helpful alert — it's like an automated co-driver.

Mercedes-Benz's MBUX uses artificial intelligence to adapt to suit the user, creating an emotional connection between the vehicle, driver and passengers. It includes the high-resolution widescreen cockpit with touchscreen operation, navigation display with augmented reality technology, plus intelligent voice control with natural speech recognition, which is activated with the keyword "Hey Mercedes."

Photography is available at http://www.ajac.ca/press-room.asp

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