Mazda’s CX-5 compact crossover has claimed the 2012-13 Car of the Year Japan (JCOTY) title. The award, first given in 1980, is decided by a panel of 60 automotive journalists. Last year’s winner was the Nissan Leaf and this is the fourth time Mazda has won; the MX-5 (or Roadster as it is known in Japan) won in 2005.
All passenger vehicles with an expected annual sales volume of over 500 units, announced or launched in Japan between 1 November, 2011 and 31 October, 2012 were eligible for the award.
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The tussle to win this year’s JCOTY title was expected to be a straight fight between the Mazda and the Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ. In the end, the Mazda won comfortably by 45 votes over the jointly-developed sports car which won the jury’s Steering Wheel award.
Journalist Peter Lyon, one of only two foreigners on the panel, told Motor Trend magazine that he allocated his votes to the Mazda because “its all-new Skyactiv fuel-saving clean technologies do not rely on hybrid or electric power. It’s an impressive achievement for an automaker that has totally reinvented itself twice in just 10 years.”
The BMW 3 series won ‘import car of the year’ with 282 votes ahead of the Range Rover Evoque (218 votes).
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