Japan Report: Japan Car of the Year Finalists
The countdown has begun for 2007-2008 Japan Car of the Year and so far it’s all going pretty much as expected.
JCOTY is Japan’s most prestigious gong and jurors start out by picking their “10 Best” from a big list of eligible cars.
The rest of the slate is made by Daihatsu’s new 660 cc minicar, the Toyota Mark X ZiO, the new Mercedes C-Class, Peugeot 207 series, and TSI versions of VW’s Golf, Touran and Golf Variant.
So far, so good. Just getting on to that 10 Best list JCOTY is enough for some manufacturers who promote it extensively in advertising.
Others take the whole thing more seriously and are determined to win. Honda, for example, loves the buzz of winning JCOTY and will be pushing hard with the new Fit.
There again, this year is the 50th anniversary of the Skyline, which could make Nissan a sentimental favorite to win. On paper, Mitsubishi has a great chance with the brilliant new Evo, however many believe in the end it’ll come down to Skyline versus the Fit….