Industry Report: AJAC Announces 2005 Canadian Car of the Year Category Winners

It's also hard to argue against AJAC's choice of the Chrysler 300C taking top

It's hard to argue against AJAC's choice of the Chrysler 300C taking top honors in the "Best New Luxury Car" category. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

honors in the "Best New Luxury Car" category. No single car has done more for its automaker than the 300C has done for Chrysler, a point proven when it became and still holds full-size luxury sales leader status. Comparing it to last year's winner, however, would be difficult being that BMW's 5-Series is superb in so many ways. Nevertheless, it would be an interesting fight, and not unlike the one which took place this year between the 300C and other segment rivals. Also vying for the luxury award were the Acura RL, Cadillac STS, Infiniti G35X, Kia Amanti, and Volkswagen Phaeton. Prices range from the mid-$30,000 range for the Kia right up near

The winner of the "Best New Sport Utility Vehicle" is the BMW X3 3.0i, a BMW 3-Series based vehicle that typifies what it means to be a crossover. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

$100,000 for the Volkswagen.

It's probably a good thing that AJAC modified its SUV and crossover categories for 2005, but it's still a bit confusing when factoring in the winners. The winner of the "Best New Sport Utility Vehicle" is the BMW X3 3.0i, a BMW 3-Series based vehicle that typifies what it means to be a crossover. Last year's SUV winner was the Subaru Forester 2.5 XT, which is even more car-like than the BMW. Both are excellent vehicles, so a clear winner between the two if put up against each other this year would be difficult to figure out without putting the Subaru through AJAC's sophisticated back-to-back rating process once again. Rivals in this category also include the Infiniti QX56, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Land Rover LR3, Lexus GX 470, and Nissan Pathfinder, all 4x4 capable. It's ironic that this year's best SUV is the only pavement-only non-SUV of the bunch.