All-new Toyota Prius wins Japan Car of the Year

Satoki Oya, holds the Japan Car of the Year trophy in front of the new Prius. Photo: Supplied

It’s a Toyota Prius but not as you know it with the all-new model getting a major overhaul from the Uber-favourite vehicle seen on New Zealand’s roads.

And now the popular hybrid has just received an important accolade with the Prius winning the coveted Japan Car of the Year award in Tokyo.

Entering the awards ceremony as the favorite to win, the Prius polled a massive 360 votes after the Japan COTY committee introduced a new voting system giving jurors 16 votes to spread between their best three cars. 

The BMW X1 finished in second place with 150 votes to take out the Import Car of the Year trophy with the Honda ZR-V crossover coming in third with 100 votes.

According to Prius chief engineer Satoki Oya, the car’s reinvention was a case of extremes when former CEO Akio Toyoda recommended that the Prius had run its course and should be retired and relegated to taxi status. 

First launched in 1997, the Prius become popular as a taxi, with the second-hand import version used a popular Uber vehicle in New Zealand.

But product planners and engineers, believed the Prius’s fate could be turned around, totally redesigned the exterior and rethought the powertrain, making the hybrid pioneer the most stylish it’s ever been with significantly increased performance and better fuel economy. 

The car has also received praise from media in the U.S. and Europe.