[Honda Worldwide]

2006-02-21

Honda Canada was honored that its new, Canadian-built Honda Civic Sedan and Honda Ridgeline pickup truck were voted as the 2006 ‘Car of the Year’ and ‘Truck of the Year’ by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

 

“We thank the AJAC members for these awards,” said Jim Miller, executive vice president of Honda Canada Inc. “Their thorough testing and evaluation processes have helped make these awards important for Canadian consumers.

“We are truly honoured that these two awards from AJAC represent an unprecendented third round of significant media wins in one year,” said Miller. “Honda Civic was voted the North American Car of the Year by a group of leading Canadian and U.S. automotive media and was named Motor Trend’s 2006 Car of the Year. Likewise, our Ridgeline pickup was voted the North American Truck of the Year and was also named Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year.

“The awards were also celebrated by the 4,300 associates at the Honda of Canada Mfg. plant in Alliston, Ontario, where Civic Sedan and the Ridgeline pickup truck are built. The awards underscore their commitment to overall design, engineering and technology of the new Civic and Ridgeline, and excellent manufacturing quality.”

The Honda Civic Sedan won the 2006 Best New Economy Car category in the annual competition by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). The new Civic Sedan is significantly improved for 2006 with increased performance, stylistic exterior design, refined interior, class-leading safety features and high levels of quality designed to maintain Civic’s position as Canada’s best-selling car.

The Honda Ridgeline won AJAC’s 2006 Best New Pickup Truck category. The Ridgeline is Honda’s all-new truck entry that features true half-ton payload capability, an interior similar to a full-size truck and an exterior length of a compact truck. Built on a segment-first closed box unibody frame, Ridgeline adds refinement, handling performance, an innovative In-Bed Trunk™ and other packaging features previously unattainable with a traditional body-on-frame truck design.

Other AJAC awards for 2006 include the Honda Civic Si Coupe as “Best New Sports Car” and Honda Civic Hybrid as “Best New Alternative Power” vehicle.

The 197-horsepower Civic Si Coupe is designed to showcase the performance potential of Honda’s new global compact platform while providing everyday practicality of a Civic with its legendary quality, refinement and durability. The Civic Hybrid features a new generation of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) technology, providing an estimated fuel economy rating of 4.7 L/100km (city) and 4.3 L/100km (highway). A new feature on the Civic Hybrid is the ability to deactivate all four of its cylinders and operate using only the electric motor in certain steady-state cruising situations.

Across its entire portfolio of products, Honda Canada provides Canadians with dependable vehicles, motorcycles, power equipment and marine engines. Honda Canada manufactures the Honda Ridgeline, Pilot, Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan and Civic Si Coupe, and the Acura CSX and MDX at its two plants in Alliston, Ontario.