AJAC's 2017 Canadian Green Car of the Year Awards

Canadian Green Car and Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year: Testing is Complete!

TORONTO, Nov. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - A week of testing has concluded as part of the process of identifying the Canadian Green Car of the Year (CGCOTY) and Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year (CGUVOTY). The annual awards are presented by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), as part of the Canadian Car of the Year (CCOTY) Awards program.

"We're happy to be in our second year of evaluations for both the Canadian Green Car and Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards, after extensive assessment by our members," said CCOTY Co-Chair Justin Pritchard.

"Our Canadian Car of the Year awards program has been honed over several decades to provide consumers with awards based on extensive data and vehicle testing. Because of consumer demand, we've applied our world-class testing procedures to create these new Green-based awards, which identify the best new options available for shoppers today."

To earn the distinction of Canadian Green Car or Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year, all qualified Canadian Car of the Year program entries that meet or exceed pre-set fuel efficiency targets are first tested under the original Canadian Car of the Year program, and then evaluated further, based on a unique set of green vehicle criteria.

This year's Canadian Green Car of the Year entries included the Chevrolet Cruze, Malibu, Spark and Malibu Hybrid, the Fiat 124 Spider, the Kia Optima and Optima Hybrid, the Toyota Prius, and the Subaru Impreza. For the Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year, contenders included the Mazda CX-9, Chrysler Pacifica, Subaru Forester, and Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Winning vehicles are evaluated on dozens of factors, including fuel efficiency, environmentally responsible production process, market impact and significance, refueling time, consumer appeal, and the vehicle's score, against all category competitors in the overall CCOTY program.

"We factor in the vehicle's score against all competitors in its category, not just green ones," Pritchard adds. "Our CGCOTY and CGUVOTY winners absolutely have to work for the consumer as an everyday vehicle, in every part of the country. As a consumer resource, it's important we test vehicles the way most Canadians will drive them –and use them."

Winners of the Canadian Car of the Year and Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year will be announced this winter, while the CGCOTY and CGUVOTY winners will be announced at the Vancouver Auto Show this spring.

PRESS ROOM FOR MEDIA: You didn't have to be at TestFest in order to produce media coverage of the event. AJAC has set-up a virtual press room on-line where you may peruse and download the following:

VIDEO: b-roll of the 4 day event as well as short 90 second videos that are ideal for YouTube

AERIAL VIEW: drone footage of the event from the sky.

QUOTES & TESTIMONIALS: comments from our journalists on the cars, trucks, and SUVs they have driven this week.

FACT SHEET: including recent press releases.

Link is: http://ajac.ca/web/ccoty/pressroom.asp

The Canadian Car of the Year is a vehicle that truly stands out, in its market segment, in the industry, and in the collective evaluation of Canada's most trusted automotive experts.

SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

For further information: For further information about the AJAC CCOTY Awards, please visit the AJAC web site: ajac.ca; Or contact : Justin Pritchard Co-Chair ([email protected]), Gary Grant Co-Chair ([email protected]), Brian Early Director ([email protected]), Haney Louka Director ([email protected]), David Taylor Director ([email protected]) or Charles Jolicoeur Director ([email protected]).