2020 Canadian Car of the Year and 2020 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year Announced by Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

Winners announced at opening ceremony for Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto

TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, the Mazda3 was announced as the 2020 Canadian Car of the Year and the Jaguar I-Pace as the 2020 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, as selected by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). The Jaguar I-Pace, which already had the distinction of being the first battery electric vehicle ever to win an overall AJAC award in 2019, has added to its list of achievements with unprecedented back-to-back overall wins.

The two vehicles were awarded with Canada's highest automotive accolades at the opening ceremonies of the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto. This followed months of testing and evaluation on roads and conditions from coast to coast by nearly 70 of the country's most-esteemed automotive journalists. Ballots are scored anonymously on many different factors, including performance, features, technology, design, fuel consumption and value.

These winners were selected from across 51 entries, including last year's category winners and this year's next-generation or significantly updated vehicles. Voting data was collected anonymously from more than 1,200 ballots.

"These awards are AJAC's highest honour, and it's with the backing of our members' real-world assessment and depth of expertise that we declare the Mazda3 2020 Canadian Car of the Year and the Jaguar I-PACE 2020 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year," said AJAC President Stephanie Wallcraft. "AJAC journalists are among the most objective and discerning automotive professionals in the country, and the fact that these two vehicles have risen to the top of our rigorous testing and voting protocol means that they're truly among the best available to Canadian buyers."

About the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC)

The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) is an association of professional journalists, writers, photographers, and corporate members whose focus is the automobile and the Canadian automotive industry. Collectively, our primary objectives are to promote, encourage, support, and facilitate professionalism in Canadian automotive journalism and to ensure factual and ethical reporting about the automobile and automotive issues to Canadian consumers. This is achieved through the work of our members and AJAC's annual vehicle testing and evaluation events, the Canadian Car of the Year and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards (CCOTY and CUVOTY), Innovation Awards, and EcoRun.

Photography is available at ajac.ca.

SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

Cindy Hawryluk, AJAC Manager, [email protected], 905-978-7239; Stephanie Wallcraft, AJAC President, [email protected], 416-888-3762; Dan Heyman, AJAC Vice-President, [email protected], 604-729-4281