Toyota Rav4 wins Japan Car of the Year

The Toyota Rav4 has claimed Japan’s Car of the Year 2019.

In its 40th year, the Japan Car of the Year organisation saw 60 jurors, representatives from 40 of the country’s most influential automotive publications, and dozens of OEM executives gathered to witness the vote-counting and prizegiving ceremony.

The expected battle was between the Rav4 and the Mazda3, with the BMW 3-Series seen as a strong contender for the import car of the year award.

Receiving 436 votes, the Rav4 pulled out on top to win the 2019 Japan Car of the Year.

The Mazda3 came in second with 328 votes, and the BMW 3-Series finished with 290 votes. In fourth was the Toyota Corolla with 118, NZ’s Car of the Year the Jaguar I-Pace was fifth with 109 votes and the Jeep Wrangler came in sixth with 56 votes.

The ceremony also included special awards categories – the Jeep Wrangler won the Emotional Award for its robust on-and-off-road capabilities, the Nissan Skyline took out the Innovation Award for its ProPilot 2.0 “hands-off” semi-autonomous driving system, and the Smart Mobility trophy was won by Mitsubishi eK Cross and Nissan Dayz.