Mouse That Roared: Tiny Toyota iQ Named Japan's Car of the Year
Published Nov 12, 2008
The tiny Toyota triumphed by one of the biggest margins in Japan COTY history, picking up a perfect 10 score from 39 of the jurors to place the iQ more than 300 votes clear of its nearest rival, the Citroën C5. The C5 polled 223 votes, while the 3rd-place Nissan GT-R garnered 201 votes.
In receiving his trophy, iQ's chief engineer Hiroki Nakajima said, "I wish to thank my Toyota colleagues for giving me some slack and putting up with my one-track, head-strong mission to build a car like no other, the world's smallest four-seater, and that some self-indulgence on my part was necessary to achieve such an epoch-making vehicle."
Boasting innovative packaging including seating for three adults and a child, nine airbags, a 99g/km low-emissions 1.0-liter gasoline engine with a continuously variable transmission, not to mention world-class crash protection, "the iQ has only just been born, so expect further developments down the track," intimated Nakajima.
Beating out strong competition from the Audi A4, the Citroën C5 became the sentimental favorite of jurors as it garnered the Import Car of the Year award, picking up 2nd place in the overall polling with 223 votes.
In the special awards category, Nissan's 473-horsepower GT-R supercar picked up the Most Advanced Technology award, while the seven-seater Subaru Exiga captured the Most Fun prize. The Best Value nod went to the Honda Freed minivan.
Allocated 25 votes to "spend" among five vehicles, each juror must give 10 votes to his or her top-rated car before spreading the remaining 15 votes among the next four vehicles judged to be the best. This year was made more challenging for jurors: The short list of 10 turned into an "11 Best" list when two cars tied for 10th place during the finalist voting ceremony one week earlier. The top 11 were the Toyota iQ, Nissan GT-R, Honda Freed, Mazda Atenza (Mazda 6), Subaru Exiga, Suzuki Wagon R, Daihatsu Tanto, Audi A4, Citroën C5, Fiat 500 and Jaguar XF.
The iQ goes on sale in Europe early next year with a choice of gasoline and diesel engines, a six-speed manual gearbox and higher-performance tires in contrast to Japan's eco-friendly, greener rubber.
Inside Line says: Small is beautiful. — Peter Lyon, Correspondent