Volvo XC40 is the Japan Car of the Year – beating the Toyota Corolla Sport

The Volvo XC40 has been named the Japan Car of the Year 2018, beating off competition from the Toyota Corolla Sport and the VW Polo.

This time last year the Volvo XC60 was named the 2017 Japan Car of the Year, fighting off competition from BMW 5-Series and Toyota Camry to give Volvo its first COTY award in Japan.

But far from being a one-off, Volvo’s win last year has been repeated with Volvo’s newest SUV, with the Volvo XC40 named the 2018 Japan Car of the Year.

With all the praise and plaudits for the XC40 from press and public alike, it’s not a huge surprise that the XC40 has given Volvo back-to-back wins in Japan, but that doesn’t make it any less satisfying for the Chinese-owned Swedish car maker.

Volvo Japan CEO Takayuki Kimura said:

After the XC60 won last year, we are ecstatic with this back-to-back victory and I’d firstly like to thank our nationwide staff for this award. The XC40 is the perfect size and competitively priced for the Japanese market so we hope to transfer this award into solid sales.

The runners-up for the award were the new Toyota Corolla Sports and VW Polo, with the Honda Clarity PHEV getting the best innovation award, the BMW X2 the emotional award and Daihatsu Tocot the small mobility award. And although Toyota missed out on COTY, it did get a special achievement award for Gazoo Racing team for wins at Le Mans and in WRC.