Honda Fit Wins AJAC's 2009 Best New Design Award
The Honda Fit won the "Best New Design" award for 2009 as presented by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). The award was handed out as part of the 2009 Canadian Car of the Year (CCOTY) awards that opened the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.
"We thank the AJAC members for this design award," said Jerry Chenkin, Executive Vice President of Honda Canada Inc. "We built the Fit to meet the needs of our customers, and their response has been overwhelmingly positive. The Fit combines a sleek, aerodynamic design for enhanced fuel efficiency with a roomy interior for excellent passenger and cargo space, proving that great style and value are not mutually exclusive attributes."
Canadian independent designer Paul Deutschman, Humber College automotive design professors Ken Cummings, and Bruce Thomson, as well as Automobile magazine's design critic Robert Cumberford were appointed by AJAC as a panel of design experts. Their task was a difficult one: create a short-list of four "Best New Design" finalists from the full-slate of fifty-six entries in the Canadian Car of the Year awards program.
Their top four finalists were the Audi A4 ("Distinguished as it is on the outside, it is the superbly finished interior of the A 4 that lifts it well above its class rivals. That the model offers a wide variety of powertrains is icing on the cake. Despite its compact size, the A 4 has real presence and provides is owner with a real sense of occasion." - Robert Cumberford), the Honda Fit ("It speaks well of Honda's far sightedness when they triumphed on the market in the mid-Seventies with a little hatchback (then called the Civic).... over 30 years later their little hatchbacks are still flying off the dealers lots. Every generation needs an affordable, efficient, honest workhorse and this is the best available in North America" - Paul Deutschman), the Jaguar XF Supercharged ("Ian Callum and his team have designed a car which is patently "Jaguar", yet they have managed to do so without trotting out old names or hackneyed design motifs." - Bruce Thomson), and the Volkswagen Passat CC ("The Volkswagen Passat CC represents an opportunity for regular folks to drive a Teutonic, elegant, four-door sedan with more than a passing resemblance to its German competitors for half the price."- Ken Cummings).
AJAC journalists then selected the winner from the design expert's short-list based on a combination of aesthetics, function, and brand essence. Each parameter was rated separately for each of the design finalists. The aesthetics score reflects the sheer beauty of the design. The function score assesses the manner and degree to which it accommodates the practical requirements of the vehicle type. And brand essence considers its success in conveying the image, heritage, and values of the specific brand.
"The intent of the AJAC Best New Design award is to identify and reward the vehicle that exhibits the best balance of form and function", said Richard Russell, chair of AJAC's 2009 Canadian Car of the Year awards.
AJAC's annual Canadian Car of the Year awards program was created in 1985 with the purpose of providing consumers with sound, comparative information on vehicles that are new to the market.