The announcement of the Japan Car of the Year has seen a number of firsts, including one that is particularly surprising and one that is not so surprising.
The not-so-surprising first is that the winner is the first EV to take out the top slot, which was always going to happen one day, but the surprising first is that it is also the first Kei car - tiny cars that fit into a strict set of dimensions and specifications for the Japanese domestic market - to win it as well!
And it wasn't actually just one car either, as the top award was shared between the Nissan Sakura and the Mitsubishi eK Cross EV, which are actually pretty much the same car underneath, as both were developed on the same BEV platform due to their partnership in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
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Jurors praised the all-electric duo's size and roomy packaging, their perky 47kW and 195Nm powertrain (the maximum output allowed under Kei car regulations, regardless of whether ICE or EV), their 180km range and sharp price, that sees the car’s price dropping under ¥2 million (NZ$22,700) after tax credits are deducted.
The joint win also marks the first time that EVs have captured the main Japan COTY trophy and the Import Car of the Year award in the same year, with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 taking that one out. The Ioniq 5's win was also the first time that a car from an Asian country has won the Import COTY trophy. It was also the first time that one manufacturer won three awards in one night, as the two sister cars went onto win the ‘Kei-car of the Year’ category as well, while Nissan also scooped the technology award with the new X-Trail.
The 60 jurors of Japan’s Car of the Year organisation gathered at the 73-story tall Yokohama Landmark Tower for the selection process which saw the pint-sized pair take a convincing win with a total of 399 votes. The Honda Civic came second with 320 votes, the Toyota Crown received 236 votes to come in third while the Mazda CX-60 was awarded 141 votes for fourth and the Nissan X-Tail got 84 votes to be ranked fifth.
In the special awards categories the Honda Civic Type R picked up the Japan COTY Performance Award, and the BMW iX captured the Japan COTY Design award.
