The jury of the JCOTY–2025/2026 award has announced this year’s general winner: the sixth-generation Subaru Forester.
The crossover SUV was highly praised for its expressive design, well-appointed hybrid powertrain and modern safety considerations. Among other things, Subaru became the world’s first company to introduce a bumper-mounted pedestrian airbag to soften the impact in collisions with cyclists and people crossing the road. It’s included as standard in Japan, but not other markets as of today.
The Japan Car of the Year award had a long list of 35 candidates this year, which was later distilled to a short list of 10. Every model was awarded a point rating based on established methodology. The Forester landed with 1,149 points, the Honda Prelude got 1,076, and the Toyota Crown Estate rounded off the top-three with just 654 points.
Western automakers in the short list were represented by the VW ID. Buzz (578 points), BMW 2-Series (416) and Peugeot 3008 (393). Last year’s top prize went to the Honda Freed minivan.
