The Leaf is proving to be not only a commercial hit for Nissan, having sold 20,000 units already this year, but a collector of automotive awards as well.

The latest trophy won by the Leaf is the “Car of the Year Japan 2011-2012”, which was announced at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan’s all-electric model has also won the World and European Car of the Year awards this year.

“This award is as much a win for Nissan as it is for our customers”, said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. “We have delivered on our promise of affordable, zero-emission mobility on a global scale. All these accolades show that zero-emission vehicles can clearly be competitive alternatives to conventional ones.”

The Leaf is only the second car ever to win two COTY awards in the same year. Nissan can also brag about being the only car manufacturer to have achieved this since the other model was the Micra supermini, which won the European and Japanese COTY awards in 1993.

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