Car of the Year Japan
The annual Car of the Year Japan Award, also known as Japan Car of the Year, is an annual Car of the Year award given for newly released or redesigned vehicles released in the car buying market in Japan in the twelve months beginning 1 November.
The award has been presented since 1980. The current recipient of the award for 2024 to 2025 is the Honda Freed.
The first non-Japanese car to win the award was the Volkswagen Golf in 2013, followed by the Volvo XC60 in 2017 and the Volvo XC40 in 2018. The highest-placed car from the United States was the Jeep Cherokee, which was eliminated in the final round in 2014 and was placed eighth. The supervisory board is made up primarily of Japanese automotive journalists.
The award is not associated with the more recent Automotive Researchers’ and Journalists’ Conference RJC Car of the Year Award, which has been issued since 1992.
Recipients
| Year | Winner |
| 1994-1995 | Mercedes-Benz C200 |
| 1995-1996 | MG F |
| 1996-1997 | Mercedes-Benz SLK |
| 1997-1998 | Renault Mégane Scénic |
| 1998-1999 | Mercedes-Benz A-Class |
| 1999-2000 | Rover 75 |
| 2000-2001 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
| 2001-2002 | Alfa Romeo 147 |
| 2002-2003 | None |
| 2003-2004 | None |
| 2004-2005 | Volkswagen Golf |
| 2005-2006 | BMW 3 Series |
| 2006-2007 | Citroën C6 |
| 2007-2008 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
| 2008-2009 | Citroën C5 |
| 2009-2010 | Volkswagen Golf |
| 2010-2011 | Volkswagen Polo |
| 2011-2012 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
| 2012-2013 | BMW 3 Series |
| 2013-2014 | None |
| 2014-2015 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
| 2015-2016 | BMW 2 Series Active Tourer/Gran Tourer |
| 2016-2017 | Audi A4 |
| 2017-2018 | None |
| 2018-2019 | None |
| 2019-2020 | BMW 3 Series |
| 2020-2021 | Peugeot 208/e-208 |
| 2021-2022 | Volkswagen Golf |
| 2022-2023 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 |
| 2023-2024 | BMW X1 |
| 2024-2025 | MINI Cooper |
| 2025-2026 | Volkswagen ID. Buzz |