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November 1, 2011
By Chris Chase; photos courtesy Michelle Siu/AJAC
For Hyundai Canada and Kia Canada, this was a year to remember: the Korean brands walked away with a combined five category wins in this year’s Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) Testfest event.
Testfest is the annual week-long operation that culminates in Canadian auto writers from the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada choosing the best cars in a number of categories, from which the overall Canadian Car and Utility Vehicle of the Year are chosen. Fifty-six vehicles were entered this year, in 11 categories, with as-tested prices ranging from $16,599 (Hyundai Accent) to $141,600 (Jaguar XKR-S).
Read on for the winners in each category, along with my thoughts on each group of vehicles, and the cars and crossovers I think will take home Canadian Car and Utility Vehicle of the Year honours.
   2012 Hyundai Accent (top), 2012 Hyundai Elantra and 2012 Kia Optima LX (bottom). Click image to enlarge |
Best New Small Car (Under $21,000) – Winner: 2012 Hyundai Accent
In the Best New Small Car (Under $21,000) category, the 2012 Hyundai Accent was the victor, earning a total of 698.2 points, less than three points’ advantage over the mechanically-similar Kia Rio, and nearly 10 points better than the third-place Honda Civic. Other entrants included the Chevrolet Sonic, a solid little car I thought would do better in this group. The adorable Fiat 500 and Toyota’s attempt to out-smart Mercedes, the iQ, were the bottom-finishers here, losing out for reasons of value-for-money and practicality, respectively, in a class of car where AJAC members apparently appreciated the Accent’s high value quotient.
Best New Small Car (Over $21,000) – Winner: 2012 Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai also took top honours in the Best New Small Car (Over $21,000) with its compact Elantra. This car was introduced last year, as a 2011 model, but too late for inclusion in last year’s Car of the Year competition. It wasn’t too late for this car to impress in a field that included the Ford Focus, Subaru’s Impreza and the Volkswagen Beetle. In a four-car race, only one would be denied a place on the podium, and that was the Beetle, a stylish and solid-driving car nonetheless outclassed by three practical four-doors, two of which were far less expensive. The second-place Focus (by 4.4 points) would have stood a better chance had Ford entered a lower-spec version of the car; the $27,779 SEL trim was pricier than the Impreza (third place) by almost $4,000 and topped the Elantra’s as-tested price by more than $5,000. And given the Elantra Limited’s heavy dose of standard content and sub-$23,000 price, it’s no wonder it ran away with value vote.
Best New Family Car (Under $30,000) – Winner: 2012 Kia Optima LX
Kia’s Optima LX took the title of Best New Family Car (under $30,000). In case you’ve noticed a trend thus far, this is a good time to mention that Hyundai and Kia won in five of this year’s 11 categories, a sure sign of the impression these companies are making with well-engineered and aggressively-priced cars. The Optima was up against a trio of other sedans (Chrysler 200, Toyota Camry and VW Passat TDI), and a pair of wagons (Chevrolet Orlando and the more-like-a-minivan Mazda5). The Passat placed second, followed by the Camry in third.
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