MONTREAL -

At the recent Montreal International Auto Show, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada announced the finalists for the Canadian Car of the Year awards — which is now in its 28th year.

The finalists are as follows:

2013 Canadian Car of the Year:
Honda Accord Sedan
Hyundai Elantra GT
Porsche Boxster

2013 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year:
Ford Escape 1.6 L EcoBoost
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T

2013 Best New Design:
Cadillac ATS
Porsche 911 Carrera S
Porsche Boxster

The overall winners will be declared on Feb.14, at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.

The 2013 Canadian Car of the Year, 2013 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, 2013 Best New Design and the 2013 Best New Technology award will be presented by Shell Canada.

Providing a little background on the awards and the process, organizers said that, originally, 11 category winners were eligible for the top honors after being announced last October.

Ford won four of the 11 categories while both Hyundai and Porsche each had a double win.  Other category winners were General Motors, Honda and Mazda, officials shared.

So, how were the finalists chosen?

Eighty of Canada’s automotive journalists conducted comparative testing of 180 "all new" or "significantly new" 2013 vehicles. And their vote results were determined from more than 40,000 individual data points established in the testing program. 

"Before submitting their ballots, the AJAC journalists completed almost 2,000 individual road-tests during TestFest, comparing vehicles back-to-back on the same roads under the same conditions," officials shared.

"These tests were conducted as part of AJAC'S mission to serve consumers by providing them with factual, objective information versus just personal opinion," they added.

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