AJAC announces 12 category winners to compete for Canadian Car of the Year

Jordan Lenssen 03 December 2013

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Mazda takes three category victories

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The Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) tallied their votes for the 12 Best New vehicles of the 2014 model year in each of their respective categories. Following the association's annual TestFest in Niagara Falls this October, vehicles in each category were graded for a chance to be crowned the Canadian Car of the year at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto on February 13, 2014.

The 12 categories cover the full new-model spectrum, including “Best New Small Car,” “Best New Luxury Car,” and “Best New SUV/CUV.” Most mainstream categories are further divided by price, such as over or under $35,000, to better provide fair and relevant comparison. The top three finalists by category are copied below.

Every detail, from safety features to cargo capacity, is thoroughly scrutinized and individually rated by secret ballot. Over 40,000 data fields are generated by the journalists. KPMG then tabulates the information from the ballots in order to determine the winners. The vote results are kept confidential – even from AJAC – until announced publicly.

The journalists’ evaluations are combined to select a winner in each of the twelve categories. The winners are:

Best New Small Car (under $21k)
Mazda3

2014-mazda3-red