The all-new Toyota Prius has convincingly gained the distinguished Japan Automobile of the 12 months trophy in Tokyo.
Coming into the awards ceremony because the favorite to win, the sleekly-styled Prius polled a large 360 votes. The BMW X1 completed in second place with 150 votes to take the Import Automobile of the 12 months trophy, with the Honda ZR-V crossover got here in third with 100 votes.
Within the first spherical of voting in early November, jurors chosen the “10 Greatest” vehicles for 2023 which included the Toyota Prius, Toyota Alphard, Nissan Serena, Honda ZR-V, Subaru Crosstrek, Mitsubishi Delica Mini, Abarth 500e, BMW X1, Maserati Grecale and Volkswagen ID.4.
In response to Prius chief engineer Satoki Oya, the automobile’s reinvention was a case of extremes when former CEO Akio Toyoda really useful that the Prius, a game-changing petrol-hybrid first launched in 1997, had run its course and must be retired and relegated to taxi standing.
However product planners and engineers, believing the Prius’s destiny might be circled, completely redesigned the outside and rethought the powertrain, making the hybrid pioneer probably the most trendy it’s ever been with considerably elevated efficiency and higher gas economic system.
Within the particular awards classes, the 660cc Mitsubishi Delica Mini kei-car gained the Design Automobile of the 12 months trophy, whereas the Nissan Serena took house the Know-how Automobile of the 12 months award for its new e-Energy system using a 3-cylinder 1.4-litre hybrid and Professional-Pilot 2.0 driver help system which permits hands-off driving on highways.
