Honda Civic, Hyundai Tucson Named AJAC’s 2022 Car and SUV of the Year

Published on March 1, 2022 in News by Guillaume Rivard

The 2022 Canadian Car of the Year and Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year were crowned last night by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

The award presentation is typically held during the opening ceremonies of the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, but since the event was cancelled again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AJAC chose to announce the winners live on REV TV Canada for the first time.

The three finalist cars and utility vehicles were qualified from among the 13 category winners announced throughout the month of February on social media.

2022 Canadian Car of the Year

Taking the torch from the Mazda3, the Canadian Car of the Year for 2022 is the new, eleventh-generation Honda Civic. Also considered for the award were the Genesis G70, which is largely updated for 2022, and the Mazda MX-5.

As we wrote in a past review, the Civic is now back at the top of the compact car segment, more mature and more sophisticated than ever, with improved driving dynamics and safety.

It’s definitely not a surprise to see the Civic earn the AJAC’s coveted award. After all, it was also named the 2022 North American Car of the Year and the Best Buy in the segment according to our team of experts at The Car Guide.

2022 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year

Moving over to SUVs, one year after the Genesis GV80 won top honours, the Hyundai Tucson took home the AJAC’s Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year award. What is it about Korean SUVs? The fully redesigned Tucson beat the all-new Genesis GV70 from Hyundai’s luxury brand. The Toyota Corolla Cross was the other finalist.

The Tucson turns heads with a bold exterior, but the interior is pretty impressive, as well. What’s more, in addition to a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine, it offers regular hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, the latter providing just over 50 kilometres of EV range.

Other Awards

Genesis fans should not feel too sorry because the GV70 still secured a pair of AJAC awards in the past few weeks including Best Safety Innovation (Radar-based Rear Occupant Alert) and Best Technical Innovation (In-Vehicle Fingerprint Reader).

Meanwhile, the Best Green Innovation award was given to the Toyota Mirai for its new fuel cell powertrain.

Here are the 13 category winners for 2022 as voted by the AJAC: