2016 Canadian Car of the Year Awards

Canadian Auto Experts are Gearing Up for an Intensive Fall Testing Program
"TestFest" 2015

The Canadian Car of the Year is a vehicle that truly stands out, in its market segment, in the industry, and in the collective evaluation of Canada's most trusted automotive experts.

TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2015 /CNW/ - The stage is set for the 29^th round of the Canadian Car of the Year (CCOTY) awards to take place this fall in Bowmanville, Ontario at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The annual event is hosted by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and sees the most important new vehicles each year together in a single venue for back-to-back testing against their competition by a panel of dozens of experienced Canadian auto reviewers.

Vehicles are divided into numerous categories defined by vehicle type, pricing and intentions. Each testing category sees its highest-scoring model declared a winner, with all category winners competing in a second round of voting for the overall title of Canadian Car of the Year, Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, Canadian Green Car of the Year and Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year. The Canadian Car of the Year awards are open to new-this-year passenger vehicles.

Last year, the Subaru Legacy and Ford F-150 took top honors with the highest scores through two rounds of testing and evaluation. This year, a selection of over 40 new-model entries is arranged throughout 9 testing categories, though ultimately, only four models will be declared big winners.

Category winners, and the overall winning vehicles each year, are far from the only important results to come from the intensive annual testing program. "Our program is absolutely testing-based, and driven by data and weighted scoring" explains CCOTY Co-Chair Justin Pritchard.

"Dozens of experienced vehicle testers drive dozens of vehicles, back to back, over the course of several days. This testing process generates thousands of data points across dozens of voting fields. We share every aspect of this testing data online—so shoppers can see, exactly, how a given vehicle won its category, or how it stacked up to the category winner".

"Whether you're interested in one of this year's category winners, which we'll announce in November, or another model from a previous year, every bit of our testing data and voting data is shared online, along with tools to compare vehicles across various categories and years. Our performance data, which is factored into every vehicle's overall score, is also published".  The goal is, ultimately, to provide highly relevant consumer-driven information for Canadian shoppers to take with them in the marketplace.

Interested in checking out the highest scores for acceleration, refinement, cargo space, value, steering or interior ergonomics, as assigned by a panel of Canadian auto experts, for the next vehicle you're considering? Head to www.ajac.ca. Testing and voting data from this year's panel of competitors will be online shortly after the event, in late October.

SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

For further information about the AJAC CCOTY Awards, please contact: Justin Pritchard, Co-Chair ([email protected]); Gary Grant, Co-Chair ([email protected]); Brian Early, Director ([email protected]); Haney Louka, Director ([email protected]); David Taylor, Director ([email protected]); or Charles Jolicoeur, Director ([email protected])