Subaru Impreza wins Japan Car of the Year 2017

It is evident that many Japanese do prefer the all-new Subaru Impreza over any other car model. At the 37th Japan Car of the Year award held at the Tokyo International Exchange Centre on Tokyo Bay, the Impreza garnered a total of 420 votes, taking the win over the Toyota Prius by a marginal 49 votes. The position for the second runner-up was occupied by the Audi A4, which won 149 votes. The selection commitee that determined the winners was made up of a panel of Japan's automotive journalists. This is the second time that Subaru has clinched the Car of the Year (COTY) Award. It is also the Japanese car-maker's first in 13 years. The chief engineer for Impreza Kazuhiro Abe, who accepted the COTY Award, said: "When we started developing the Impreza over 4 years ago, never did I imagine I’d be standing here today with such a prestigious award. This must be what it feels like to win an Olympic gold." He added: "The Impreza’s new global platform has great meaning for the company moving forward and will underpin nearly all of our cars over the next decade. On behalf of all of my R&D team, I’d like to thank the jurors for their support of this car.” The COTY Award selection committee comprises 59 jurors. Armed with 25 votes each, every juror must give 10 votes to their most preferred car. The remaining 15 votes are then distributed across the next four preferred cars. Each juro must vote for five cars out of the final Top 10. The voting process was a close fight. After the votes of the 20th jurors were read out, the Impreza and the Prius stood alongside each other with a marginal difference of 9 votes. After the votes of the 40th juror were summed, the Impreza's lead over the Prius hiked to 27 votes. The Impreza eventually went home with a gold medal. The Nissan Serena won the Innovation Award for its Propilot driver-assist, hands-free sliding door technology and clever seat arrangement. The Daihatsu Move Canbus won the Small Mobility award for its packaging. Lauded for its performance and handling, the BMW M2 won the Emotional Award, while the Honda NSX picked up the Car of the Year Japan steering committee’s Special Award for its revolutionary V6 twin-turbo hybrid powertrain.