Celebrating its 45th anniversary, the Japan Car of the Year organisation gathered today at Bosch’s new headquarters in Center Kita, Yokohama City, to select the best cars for 2024-2025. Approximately 59 jurors, representing 41 of the country’s most influential automotive and lifestyle publications and numerous car industry executives, attended the vote-counting and award ceremony for this year’s Japan Car of the Year awards.
The pre-ceremony excitement focused on a competition between the popular Honda Freed family minivan and the stylish Mazda CX-80. Once the final votes were tallied, the Freed won with 220 votes, surpassing the CX-80, which received 196 votes.
After accepting the trophy, Freed’s chief engineer, Satoru Azumi, stated, “When designing the Freed, we went back to basics and established a new standard for family minivans, offering class-leading comfort, usability, and packaging, along with Honda’s unique hybrid system at a very reasonable price.”
In third place, with 172 votes, the BMW Mini Cooper secured its second consecutive Import Car of the Year award. The edgy Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck surprised many by winning the Design Award with 11 votes, edging out the sleek electric BYD Seal sedan, which received ten votes.
The Honda CR-V e: FCEV was also awarded the Technology Award for its hydrogen-powered fuel cell development. The Japan COTY (Car of the year) steering committee also presented Mazda with a Special Award for its e-Skyactiv R-EV rotary technology.
The top 10 cars for 2024-2025 are ranked as follows:
- Honda Freed (220 votes)
- Mazda CX-80 (196 votes)
- Mini Cooper (172 votes)
- Suzuki Fronx (110 votes)
- Lexus LBX (70 votes)
- Hyundai IONIQ 5 N (52 votes)
- Toyota Land Cruiser (44 votes)
- BYD Seal (32 votes)
- Volvo EX30 (30 votes)
- Mitsubishi Triton (18 votes)
- For more interesting motoring news and international car stories published in Motoring Echo, click here.
- Click here for more on this article and to visit the COTY website. (After selecting, you will be redirected away from Motoring Echo.)
