The last time a car of this brand won this competition was a decade ago, when in the 2009-2010 season the laurels of victory went to the Toyota Prius hybrid.
The jury consisted of 69 media representatives who had to determine the best among 35 new cars that appeared on the Japanese market from November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019. Of this list, only 13 models belonged to Japanese brands, but six of them managed to break into the final top ten contenders for the winner's title.
According to the voting results, the triumph went to the Toyota RAV4, which beat rivals such as the new Mazda3 and BMW 3-Series in the final. Experts noted the high level of comfort of the crossover, clear and predictable behavior on the road, as well as a spacious trunk. Additionally, they drew attention to the possibility of choosing between three all-wheel drive transmission options: in addition to the standard Dynamic Torque Control AWD scheme, a version with two independent clutches on the rear axle is offered, as well as a hybrid version with an electric motor at the rear.
Winners in individual categories were also announced. Thus, the title of best imported model was won by the BMW 3-Series, the most expressive car was recognized as the Jeep Wrangler, the innovation award went to the unmanned Nissan Skyline, and the best kei car were the technically similar Nissan Dayz and Mitsubishi eK.
Last year, the victory in the JCOTY competition was won by the compact crossover Volvo XC40, ahead of the new Toyota Corolla in points. For the Swedish brand, this was the second consecutive success: in 2017, the award went to the XC60 SUV.
