The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) has announced its finalists for the Canadian Car of the Year and Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year awards for 2022.
The three finalists in each category were chosen from among the 13 category winners announced by AJAC over the past two weeks. Of course, picking only three car and three SUV models from across all categories and price points means you wind up with some pretty odd bedfellows, and this year’s trio of Canadian Car of the Year finalists is a particularly good case in point. Here they are:
- Honda Civic - Our review
- Genesis G70 - Our review
- Mazda MX-5 - Our long-term review
The Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year finalists are a little less all over the place:
- Genesis GV70 - Our review
- Hyundai Tucson - Our review
- Toyota Corolla Cross - Our review
Need we point out that only one automaker managed to place more than one model among the six finalists? That’s right, the brand that’s a newcomer and the least-well known among those carmakers featured: Genesis. The luxury brand established by Korean auto giant Hyundai continues to rack up nominations and awards far out of proportion to how many buyers actually take the plunge on its models.
It also means the Hyundai Group accounts for half of the nominees for 2022. With the launch of the Santa Cruz small pickup, with the Ioniq 5 electric crossover debuting to generally ecstatic reviews and with more EVs in the pipeline, Hyundai is seeing its efforts over the past decade pay off, to say the least.
AJAC’s Canadian Car of the Year award presentation is normally held during the opening ceremonies of the Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS) in Toronto, which was cancelled this year due to the public health measures dictated by the pandemic.
Because of that, this year the award presentation will be broadcast live on REV TV Canada for the first time. The 30-minute program, set for February 28 at 8 pm ET, will include a recap of the category winners, followed by the announcement of the winners for Canadian Car of the Year and Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year for 2022.
