AJAC’s 2017 "Best New" category winners announced

The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) yesterday announced the eight "Best New" category winners for 2017, as voted by expert writers who gathered in October at “TestFest,” a 4-day test-drive evaluation of brand new or significantly changed models.

“Our program is absolutely testing-based,” said Justin Pritchard, co-chair of the Canadian Car of the Year committee and a regular contributor to Auto123.com. “We have dozens of experienced vehicle testers driving dozens of vehicles, back to back, over the course of several days. This testing process generated 1,384 test drives, producing over 100,000 data points and 1058 category ballots. It's important to note that every aspect of this testing data is shared online via our website, so shoppers can see how any given vehicle won its category, or how it stacked up to the category winner.”

Here is the list (with links to reviews on Auto123.com):

BEST NEW SMALL CAR
Hyundai Elantra - 682 points
2^nd place Chevrolet Cruze - 680 points
3^rd place Subaru Impreza - 679 points

BEST NEW LARGE CAR
Volkswagen Golf Alltrack - 680 points
2^nd place Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid - 674 points
3^rd place Kia Optima HEV - 672 points

BEST NEW LARGE PREMIUM CAR
Buick LaCrosse - 656 points
2^nd place Volvo S90 - 655 points
3^rd place Mercedes-Benz E 300 4MATIC - 653 points

BEST NEW SPORTS / PERFORMANCE CAR
Hyundai Elantra Sport - 682 points
2^nd place Ford Focus RS - 670 points
3^rd place Fiat 124 Spider - 637 points

BEST NEW PREMIUM SPORTS / PERFORMANCE CAR
BMW M2 - 658 points
2^nd place Porsche 911 Carrera 4S - 656 points
3^rd place Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupe - 648 points

BEST NEW SMALL UTILITY
Subaru Forester - 678 points
2^nd place Ford Escape - 670 points
3^rd place Kia Sportage - 664 points

BEST NEW LARGE UTILITY
Chrysler Pacifica - 664 points
2^nd place Mazda CX-9 - 663 points
3^rd place GMC Acadia - 634 points

BEST NEW PREMIUM UTILITY VEHICLE
Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC - 658 points
2^nd place Buick Envision - 654 points
3^rd place Cadillac XT-5 - 650 points

These eight category winners will now compete for the overall Canadian Car of the Year and Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year awards, which will be handed at the 2017 Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto next February.

Make your predictions and compare AJAC’s choices with our own Auto123.com Awards!