Toyota Prius snags 3rd Japan-COTY award

Toyota's fifth generation Prius hybrid car has just won the Japan Car of the Year award for 2023-2024. The Prius received an overwhelming 360 votes under the Japan Car of the Year committee's new voting system, which gives jurors 16 votes to spread between their top three cars.

The BMW X1 finished in second place with 150 votes, making it Japan's Import Car of the Year.

This is the third time the Prius won the Japan Car of the Year. The first-generation Prius was awarded Japanese Car of the Year back in 1997-1998 while the third generation won the 2009-2010 edition.

The Japan Car of the Year awards, which is in its 44th year, is organized and run by representatives from 39 of Japan's most influential automotive and lifestyle publications. They select 60 jurors.

In the first round of voting in early November, these jurors selected 10 best cars for 2023 which included the Toyota Prius, Toyota Alphard, Nissan Serena, Honda ZR-V, Subaru Crosstrek, Mitsubishi Delica Mini, Abarth 500e, BMW X1, Maserati Grecale and Volkswagen ID.4.

For the final round of voting, jurors gathered at the Sodegaura Forest Raceway, which is about an hour and a half drive away from Tokyo, to test drive the 10 best cars before voting for the winners.

Sharper look, powerful drivetrain

Unlike its previous iterations, the fifth generation Toyota Prius sports a sharp, edgy new design and an updated hybrid powertrain: A 2.0-liter gasoline engine mated to a newly developed lithium-ion battery.

The new hybrid powertrain gives the Prius maximum output of 194 hp (the previous hybrid that uses 1.8-liter engine could only generate 121 horse power) enabling this sports back to accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in just 7.2 seconds (previous generation could do it in 9.8 seconds).

Under the New European Driving Cycle test, the base model of the Prius has a fuel consumption of 4.1 L/100 km in combined cycle and 3.8 L/100 km in city driving. Its CO2 emissions are estimated at 96 g/km.

The Toyota Prius was an absolute game-changer when it was introduced in 1997. It was the only car of its type and represented eco-friendly motoring, which many celebrities adopted and championed.

While no longer sold in the Philippines, the Prius did pave the way for more Filipinos to embrace Toyota's hybrid technology which now powers top variants of the Corolla Altis, Corolla Cross, Camry, RAV4 and Alphard.