AJAC 2008 Car of the Year finalists announced

The Automotive Journalist association of Canada has announced the category winners for its annual Car of the Year awards.

General Motors dominated the event, held at the Toronto Congress Centre on December 4, 2007, collecting 4 awards.  GM representatives (from left) Natalie Nankil, Tony LaRocca, Stewart Low and George Saratlic pose with the trophies won by the GM cars in the background.

Audi won 3 trophies and BMW bested in 2 of the 13 contests. Honda, Mercedes Benz, Hyundai and Nissan were each winners of single categories.

The 2008 Category winners for Best New vehicle in class are:

Small Car: Saturn Aura
Family Car: Honda Accord EX Sedan
Luxury Car: Mercedes Benz C Class
Prestige Car (over $75,000): Audi R8
Sports / Performance Car under $50,000: MINI Cooper S
Sports / Performance Car over $50,000: Audi S5
Convertible: BMW 335i Cabriolet
Minivan: Hyundai Entourage
Pickup Truck: Chevrolet Silverado
SUV / CUV under $35,000: Nissan Rogue
SUV / CUV $35,000- $60,000: Saturn Vue
SUV / CUV over $60,000: Buick Enclave
Most Coveted Vehicle: Audi R8

Testing and voting for the awards took place between October 29-November 2, 2007. 70 journalists compiled data from driving 59 new car and truck models before submitting their evaluative ratings for various aspects of the vehicles.

AJAC member journalists will now vote for their overall Car of the Year and Utility Vehicle of the Year from the list of category winners, which will be announced February 13th, 2008 at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, Ontario.