The Volkswagen Golf is Japan's Car of the Year, the first import to win it in 34 years

The Volkswagen Golf has been named Car of the Year 2013-14 in Japan, as part of the Tokyo Motor Show. In this way, for the first time in the 34-year history of this award, a foreign car has beaten local competitors. The score given by the 60 jury members to the latest generation of the Golf was 504 points out of a possible 600.

The Golf’s score, from a model that has only been on sale in the Eastern country since mid-year, represents a 131-point lead over the runner-up and 337 points over third place. In explaining their decision, the jury highlighted the new Modular Transverse Platform (MQB) as the Golf’s main strength, along with the qualities of the TFSI engines.

The Golf is available in Japan in three versions: Trendline, Comfortline and Highline. Customers can choose between the 1.2 TSI and 1.4 TSI engines. In October, Volkswagen expanded the range with the addition of the new Golf GTI. Since the launch of the new Golf in the Japanese market, orders for this model have reached 13,000 units.

The Volkswagen Golf’s competitors for this award were the Honda Fit/Jazz, with 373 votes, and the Volvo V40, which finished third with 167 votes. Other winners in other categories were the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the Mazda6 (Atenza in Japan), while among Japan’s popular kei cars the Suzuki Spacia and the Mazda Flair Wagon each won awards.

Source | Car of the Year Japan

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackVolkswagen Golf28 versions · from 24,450 €