YOKOHAMA: Dec 12 was an electric day of firsts at the Japan Car of the Year awards prize-giving ceremony here.
For the first time in the 43-year history of Japan’s Car of the Year awards, fully electric ‘K-minicars’ — the Nissan Sakura and Mitsubishi eK Cross EV — captured the country’s highest automotive award.
As partners in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, Nissan and Mitsubishi collaborated to create the electric ‘Sakura’ and ‘eK Cross EV’ K-cars which share platforms, powertrains and underpinnings.
The two sister cars went onto win the ‘K-car of the Year’ special prize as well.
Many jurors praised the their size and roomy packaging, perky 64hp and 195Nm powertrain, 180km range, accessibility to the average motorist, and price, that sees their sticker price dropping under ¥2 million (RM64,340) with tax credits deducted.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 polled 75 votes to be crowned the Japan Import Car of the Year for 2022-23, making it the first Asian model to win a major award in Japan.
The Honda Civic came second with 320 votes, the Toyota Crown received 236 votes to come in third while the Mazda CX-60 was awarded 141 votes for fourth and the Nissan X-Tail got 84 votes to be ranked fifth.
