The Ford F-150 has been given top honours as the 2015 Canadian Truck of the Year. In an early morning press conference at the opening of the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, the vehicle was named the 2015 Canadian Truck of the Year by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).
This is the second time that the F-150 has earned the overall Canadian Truck of the Year title having previously won in 2004. It is the fourth time for the Ford Motor Company to claim overall top honours having also won in 2011 (Ford Edge), 2009 (Ford Flex), 2004 (F-150).
We are honoured that the 2015 F-150 has been named AJACs 2015 Truck of the Year, said Dianne Craig, president and CEO, Ford of Canada. Our game-changing use of aluminum alloy is raising the competitive bar for pick-ups and we are humbled to be considered an innovator in the industry, committed to providing our customers the most capable and fuel efficient pick-up ever.
Fifteen Best New category winners were eligible for the top honours after being announced on December 2, 2014.
The category winners represent the vote results by the largest group of Canadas best-known automotive journalists, who gathered this October in Niagara Falls, ontario for a five-day test-drive evaluation of brand-new or significantly changed vehicle models. The event, known as TestFest, was hosted by the Niagara Parks Commission, and Shell Canada is the official fuel supplier. The accounting firm KPMG tabulates all vote results.
TestFest is the most intensive new vehicle evaluation process on the planet, said CCOTY Co-Chair, Gary Grant. No other organization employs such stringent testing methods to determine their car of year award winners. Data driven and Canadian expertise: thats what makes an AJAC winner.
The rigorous testing program includes real world driving on public roads – exactly wher consumers drive so that the test data and vote results are directly relevant to potential car and truck buyers. The results are not based on the personal opinion of just one or two journalists. Instead, the 73 automotive journalists each drove a vehicle in 15 categories back-to-back on the same day, under the same conditions, to ensure fair and objective comparisons.
Our program is absolutely testing-based, explains CCOTY Co-Chair Justin Pritchard. Weve got dozens of experienced vehicle testers driving dozens of vehicles, back to back, over the course of several days. This testing process generated 1,640 test drives producing approximately 106,405 data points and 500 category ballots. Its important to note that every aspect of this testing data is shared online via our web site so that shoppers can see how a given vehicle won its category, or how it stacked up to the category winner.
SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada
