Mazda2 Wins Japan’s Car of the Year Beating Mercedes C-Class and BMW i3

Mazda snatched the “2014-2015 Car of the Year Japan” today with its new “2” supermini (called Demio in Japan), edging the Mercedes-Benz C-Class by 19 votes.

The firm’s new sub-compact model became the second Mazda to capture the award in three years after the CX-5 SUV won in 2012-2013.

“We are both honored and grateful that the Mazda2 has received such a prestigious award,” commented Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai.

Mazda’s EVP, Kiyoshi Fujiwara said, “With the Mazda2, we have rewritten the rule book for compact cars. Our new Skyactiv technology, excellent mileage, reasonable pricing and unique design all contributed to our victory today.”

The new Mazda2 polled the maximum 10 votes from 22 of the 59 jurors for a total of 423 votes. The 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-finished second with 404 votes, while third place was taken by another German premium model, the BMW i3 with 340 votes. Subaru’s Levorg station wagon came in fourth with 124 votes and the Suzuki Hustler ended up in fifth place with 65 votes.

Each juror is allocated 25 votes and has to give 10 votes to their best car spreading the remaining 15 votes among their next best four vehicles.