Honda beats Mazda and Mini to win the Major Car Award

In Japan today, the down-to-earth, family-oriented Honda Freed minivan beat out the elegant Mazda CX-80 to win the coveted Japan Car of the Year award. For the first time in 14 years, the Honda won, finishing 220 votes ahead of the fast-moving Mazda CX-80 SUV with 196 votes in the polls. Third place went to the Mini Cooper with 172 votes, making it the highest rated foreign-made car and earning it the Import Car of the Year trophy.

To mark its 45th anniversary, the Japan Car of the Year organization met today at Bosch’s new Japanese headquarters in Yokohama City to count the votes and select the country’s best cars for 2024-2025. Approximately 59 judges, representatives from 41 of the country’s most influential automotive and lifestyle publications and dozens of automotive industry executives gathered to witness the counting of votes and awards ceremony for this year’s Japan Car of the Year awards.

After selecting their top 10 cars of the year in a first round of voting in November, the 59 judges receive a total of 16 votes and must award 10 of those votes to their favorite car from the original top 10 cars before awarding 4 votes to their second favorite and 2 votes for their third favorite car. These votes are then added together to determine the winners.

The jury expected a fight between Honda and Mazda

Pre-awards guesses centered on an expected battle between the popular Honda Freed minivan and the aesthetically pleasing Mazda CX-80, and when the final votes were tallied, the Freed beat the Mazda by a handy margin of 24 votes. After receiving his trophy, Satoru Azumi, chief engineer of the Freed, said: “In developing the Freed, we went back to basics and created a new standard for the family minivan that combines premium comfort, usability and packaging with the option of Honda’s unique Hybrids offers system and a very reasonable price.”

BMW receives the Import Car Award for the second time in a row

In third place, BMW won the Import Car of the Year trophy for the second year in a row with the Mini Cooper, while the boxy Mitsubishi Triton pick-up surprised many, winning the Design Award with 11 votes, just one ahead of the sleek electric sedan BYD Seal. Additionally, the Honda CR-V e:FCEV won the Technology Award for its development of a hydrogen-powered fuel cell, which allows the car to run solely on hydrogen or electricity. Meanwhile, the Japanese COTY Steering Committee’s special award went to Mazda’s e-Skyactiv R-EV rotary technology, with the hope that the Hiroshima-based mold will keep this unique technology alive.

In addition to the six Japanese cars that made the 10Best finalist list, it was the second time a Korean car made the breakthrough and the first time a Chinese vehicle finished in the top 10, with both were purely electric vehicles. As a reminder, the top 10 cars for 2024-2025 finished in the following order. Honda Freed (220), Mazda CX-80 (196), Mini Cooper (172), Suzuki Front (110), Lexus LBX (70), Hyundai IONIQ 5 N (52), Toyota Land Cruiser (44), BYD Seal ( 32), Volvo EX30 (30) and Mitsubishi Triton (18).

MORE FROM FORBES

ForbesNissan is in a tough spot, but could Honda save the day?From Peter LyonsForbesThe new Toyota Century brand is positioned above Lexus but sold through Lexus dealersFrom Peter Lyons