WE MAKE NO SECRET OF OUR love of kei cars, even though they are patently unsuitable (and far too expensive, once they arrive) for Australian conditions.
Celebrating its 45th year, the Japan Car of the Year organisation gathered at Bosch’s new Japan headquarters in Center Kita, Yokohama City today to choose the country’s best cars of 2024-2025. Some 59 jurors, representatives from 41 of the country’s most influential automotive and lifestyle publications and dozens of car industry executives gathered to witness the vote-counting and prize-giving ceremony for this year’s Japan Car of the Year awards.
Pre-ceremony hype centred on an expected battle between the popular Honda Freed family-oriented minivan and the aesthetically pleasing Mazda CX-80, and when the final votes were counted, the Freed came out on top with 220 votes to the CX-80’s 196 votes. After receiving his trophy, the Freed’s chief engineer Satoru Azumi commented, “When designing the Freed, we went back to basics and created a new standard for the family minivan that offers class-leading comfort, usability and packaging with the option of Honda’s unique hybrid system and a very reasonable price tag.”
In third place with 172 votes, BMW picked up its second straight Import Car of the Year trophy with the Mini Cooper, while the edgy Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck surprised many to win the Design Award with 11 votes, just one vote ahead of the sleek electric BYD Seal sedan (it also surprised us – we didn’t see a single example in our three weeks in Japan recently). In addition, the Honda CR-V e:FCEV captured the Technology Award for its hydrogen-powered fuel cell development and the Japan COTY steering committee’s Special Award went to Mazda’s e-Skyactiv R-EV rotary technology.
The 10 Best cars for 2024-2025 finished in the following order: Honda Freed (220), Mazda CX-80 (196), Mini Cooper (172), Suzuki Front (110), Lexus LBX (70), Hyundai IONIQ 5 N (52), Toyota Land Cruiser (44), BYD Seal (32), Volvo EX30 (30), and Mitsubishi Triton (18).