The Car of the Year Japan Award, or JCOTY for short, is an annual prize given to automobile manufacturers. It first began in 1980 and continues today. The best of the best are selected by a jury of Japanese journalists and market experts.
To be eligible for selection, the model must have debuted between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022, and generated at least 500 sales. A list of 10 cars will be published at the end of November. The winners will be announced in early December.
The long list included:
- five Toyota models: Corona, Sienta, Noah/Voxy, bZ4X, Razie Hybrid
- four Nissan models: Ariya, X-Trail, Sakura, Fairlady Z,
- three Subaru models: Solterra, Legacy Outback, WRX S4),
- two Lexus models: NX, LX,
- two Daihatsu models: Rocky HEV, Move Canvas
- two Honda's: Civic e: HEV/Civic Type R, StepWGN
- Mazda: CX-60.
European brands are represented by models:
- four Audi models: A8, e-tron S, RS3, SQ2
- three Mercedes-Benz models: C-Class All Terrain, EQB and EQS
- three Volkswagen models: Golf R/Golf R Variant, Polo, T-Roc R
- three Renault's: Arkana, Captur E-Tech Hybrid, Lutecia/Megane E-Tech Hybrid
- two BMW models: 2-Series Coupe, iX
- two Citroen models: C4/E-C4, C5X
- two DS models: DS4 and DS9
- two Maserati's: Levante GT, MC20
- Volvo C40 Recharge,
- Peugeot 308/308 SW
- Land Rover Range Rover
- Ferrari 296 GTB
- Fiat 500e/500e Cabrio
American brands represented by:
- Jeep Grand Cherokee L
- Tesla Model Y
Korean brands represented by:
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Nexo
Last year, the Nissan Note hatchback was the JCOTY winner.
Source: JCOTY