Yellow_Fly_Red

Best New Economy Car:
Mitsubishi Lancer ES

Best New Family Car:
Honda Accord

Best New Luxury Car:
Mercedes-Benz E Class

Best New Sports Coupe / Sedan (under $35,000):
Mazda Protegé MazdaSpeed

Best New Sports Coupe / Sedan (over $35,000):
Mercedes-Benz C 32 AMG

Best New Station Wagon / MPV:
Pontiac Vibe

Best New Sports / Performance Car:
Nissan 350Z

Best New Sport-Utility Vehicle (under $45,000):
Nissan Murano

Best New Sport-Utility Vehicle (over $45,000):
Volvo XC 90 2.5T

Link: http://en.carpoint.msn.ca/Browse/win...Home&pos=Edit1

The full article Article:

The best new 2003 models in nine different categories were announced on November 21 during Media Day activities at the Montreal International Auto Show. This marked the 18th annual presentation of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada's Car and Truck of the Year awards.
The winners were selected by secret ballot after four days of exhaustive comparative testing led by more than 60 AJAC journalist members. They had come from across Canada to Shannonville Motorsport Park in Ontario in late October for AJAC's annual TestFest.

From these results, the overall Canadian Car and Truck of the Year winners will be chosen and announced during the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto next February. The AJAC awards for Best New Design and Best New Technology will also be presented at that time.

A Rigorous Process
Vehicles went through rigorous objective testing and were compared extensively by journalists who rated them on 19 to 21 different parameters, depending on vehicle type. The completed ballots were then compiled by the major accounting firm KPMG, using complex weighting and indices specific to each category.

The final compilation includes the application of a price-weighting factor, developed and refined by engineer and MSN Carpoint Canada contributor Gerry Malloy. This final factor, established and refined on the basis of prior voting patterns, ensures that value as well as merit is a determining factor.

Final results are tabulated and kept confidential until the public announcement of the winners.

Exhaustive Testing
Journalists tested more than 200 vehicles representing 52 separate official entries in nine (9) categories. A major part of the vote was determined by teams of journalists who drove the vehicles in each category back-to-back on road loops laid out and adapted to each category's specific nature and requirements.

They include, for example, more city driving for minivans, more time on the highway for luxury cars, some twisty roads for sports cars and rougher sections for sport-utilities. In addition to this, an expert team produces same-day acceleration and braking measures for all vehicles entered, while others safely evaluate and probe handling limits on combined sections of Shannonville's various race courses. A full-featured off-road driving course is used to correctly assess the all-terrain prowess of sport-utilities, pickup trucks and such.

This year, Japanese carmakers won five out of the nine categories while three category awards went to European brands and the remaining one to an American manufacturer.

Here are the Best New Vehicles of 2003 in all nine categories:

Best New Economy Car:
Mitsubishi Lancer ES

Best New Family Car:
Honda Accord

Best New Luxury Car:
Mercedes-Benz E Class

Best New Sports Coupe / Sedan (under $35,000):
Mazda Protegé MazdaSpeed

Best New Sports Coupe / Sedan (over $35,000):
Mercedes-Benz C 32 AMG

Best New Station Wagon / MPV:
Pontiac Vibe

Best New Sports / Performance Car:
Nissan 350Z

Best New Sport-Utility Vehicle (under $45,000):
Nissan Murano

Best New Sport-Utility Vehicle (over $45,000):
Volvo XC 90 2.5T

FrankW

not a bad list. glad to see the C32 made it on the chart. Good thing they called the catagory "NEW" sports coupe/sedan over $35k. Other wise i would vote for the M5 myself.

But how can the Best NEW sport sedan/coupe under $35k goes to Protege' MazdaSpeed and not the G35 sedan/coupe (is the G35/skyline sold more than $35k in Canada?). The world has come to an end... j/k

lars

Base MSRP on a G35 sedan is Cdn$39,400, so it didn't fit the lower price category and was competing against the C32. In order to qualify for the AJAC awards competition, a car has to be a new or substantially revised model in the Canadian market. There were no C class cars in this year's competition other than the C32.

FrankW

Cool...that explains it...thanks

AndrewK

As usual the Canadians have it all figured out...

Drew_ML

You can read the MB specific article here (available since Nov 26th actually):
MB Canada's press release

Enjoy!

FrankW

pretty cool...thanks for the link