The 2007 "Best New" winners in 13 different Canadian Car of the Year categories were announced this week by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) at a press conference in Toronto.
Toyota Canada walked away with three category wins, the most of any manufacturer:
Best New Family Car ($22,000 to $30,000) : Toyota Camry LE;
Best New Family Car (over $30,000) : Toyota Camry Hybrid
Best New SUV/CUV (under $35,000) : Toyota RAV4 V6 Sport.
Toyota^s Lexus brand picked up another award, winning Best New Luxury Car (under $50,000) for its ES 350.
Volkswagen took two awards,
Best New Small Car (over $18,000): VW Rabbit 2.5
Best New Convertible: VW Eos 2.0T.
VW^s Audi brand also won for Best New Prestige Vehicle (over $75,000) for its S8.
Honda grabbed Best New Small Car (under $18,000) for the Fit LX (with manual transmission) while;
Acura won Best New SUV/CUV ($35,000 to $60,000) with the RDX with Tech Package.
Other category winners include -
Best New Sports/Performance Car (under $50,000): Mazdaspeed 3;
Best New Sports/Performance Car (over $50,000): BMW 3 Series Coupe;
Best New Pickup; Chevrolet Avalanche and
Best New SUV/CUV (over $60,000): Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.
The category winners were determined by comparative test data derived during AJAC^s annual Test Fest of new 2007 vehicles in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., during the last week of October.
The overall Canadian Car and Truck of the Year will be announced Feb. 14 at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.
The following is how the top three finished in each category:
Small Car (under $18,000): Honda Fit, Nissan Versa hatchback, Hyundai Accent GS;
Small Car (over $18,000): VW Rabbit 2.5, Hyundai Elantra GLS, Nissan Sentra;
Family Car ($22,000 to $30,000): Toyota Camry LE, Nissan Altima 2.5, Kia Magentis LX;
Family Car (over $30,000): Toyota Camry Hybrid, VW Passat wagon Saturn Aura;
Luxury Car (under $50,000): Lexus ES 350, Infiniti G35x sedan, Lincoln MKZ;
Prestige: Audi S8, Mercedes-Benz S550 4Matic, Lexus LS 460L;
Sports/ Performance (under $50,000): Mazdaspeed 3, VW GTI 2.0T, Acura CSX Type-S;
Sports/Performance (over $50,000): BMW 3 Series Coupe, Audi RS4, BMW M Coupe;
Convertible: VW Eos, Audi A4 Cabriolet, Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder;
Pickup: Chevrolet Ava-lanche, Ford Sport Trac XLT, Cadillac Escalade EXT;
SUV/CUV (under $35,000): Toyota RAV4 V6 Sport, Mazda CX-7, Honda CRV LX;
SUV/CUV ($35,000 to $60,000): Acura RDX, Suzuki XL7, Toyota FJ Cruiser;
SUV/ CUV (over $60,000): Mercedes GL-Class, Acura MDX, Audi Q7 4.2.
