Honda Freed minivan wins Japan Car of the Year

In a closely fought battle in Yokohama today, the Honda Freed minivan beat Mazda's CX-80 SUV to win the coveted 2024-2025 Japan Car of the Year award, while the Mini Cooper took home the Japan Import Car of the Year trophy.

Pre-ceremony hype centered on an expected battle between the popular Honda Freed family-oriented minivan and the aesthetically pleasing Mazda CX-80, and when the final votes were counted, the Freed came out on top with 220 votes to the CX-80's 196 votes. After receiving his trophy, the Freed's chief engineer Satoru Azumi commented, 'When designing the Freed, we went back to basics and created a new standard for the family minivan that offers class-leading comfort, usability and packaging with the option of Honda's unique hybrid system and a very reasonable price tag.'

In third place with 172 votes, BMW picked up its second straight Import Car of the Year trophy with the Mini Cooper, while the edgy Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck surprised many to win the Design Award with 11 votes, just one vote ahead of the sleek electric BYD Seal sedan. In addition, the Honda CR-V e:FCEV captured the Technology Award for its hydrogen-powered fuel cell development and the Japan COTY steering committee's Special Award went to Mazda's e-Skyactiv R-EV rotary technology.

The 10 Best cars for 2024-2025 finished in the following order : Honda Freed (220), Mazda CX-80 (196), Mini Cooper (172), Suzuki Fronx (110), Lexus LBX (70), Hyundai IONIQ 5 N (52), Toyota Land Cruiser (44), BYD Seal (32), Volvo EX30 (30), and Mitsubishi Triton (18).

For further information, please contact www.jcoty.org/

Photo credit: Car of the Year Japan
posted on conceptcarz.com

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