Honda Fit Chosen “best of the Year”

MotorWeek recently presented its awards for 2007 Driver’s Choice Award at the currently ongoing Chicago Auto Show. There are thirteen overall categories which covered all segments. Of all the thirteen categories, the Honda Fit came out as the overall top car of the year. The Honda Fit also bagged the Best Small Car Award.

This year marks the second consecutive year that Honda has won in the small car segment and topped the Driver’s Choice Awards. In the past year, they have accomplished the feat with the Honda Civic. The Honda Fit and the rest of the winners on all the thirteen categories will be featured at a special episode of MotorWeek on PBS.

John Davis, the host and executive producer of MotorWeek, sings his praises for Honda in his statement. “At a time when fuel efficiency and versatility are top-of-mind for drivers, Honda has once again, proven to be a trendsetter in people-driven technology,” Davis said. “Last year, with the sterling Civic lineup, and this year, with the clever Fit, Honda advances the standards for intelligent, driver-friendly, design that deserves our ‘Best of the Year’ title. The Honda Fit is a standout vehicle for its forward-thinking flexibility, frugality at the pump, interior creature comforts, stylish design, and, high on MotorWeek’s list, its entertaining drive,” the MotorWeek host added.

The Honda Fit is the successor of the Civic in North America as the company’s chief entry-level subcompact and is aimed to compete with Toyota's Scion division. The car was introduced in the North American market last year as a 2007 year model. The model comes in only two variants, the base model and the Sport trim package. No matter what the trim package consumers opt for, the car will be equipped with a 1.5-liter engine that produces 109 horsepower. The relatively small combustion chamber makes the Fit fuel efficient. Add to that the design of the engine that gives power without burning too much fuel. The engine is so efficient that it performs like a Volvo equipped with a Volvo oxygen sensor.

The Honda Fit takes the Best of the Year award over tough competition. Among the other winners are seven GM cars which are the Saturn Aura, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, GMC Acadia, GMC Sierra, Saturn Outlook and the Chevrolet Silverado. The Saturn Aura won as the Best Family Sedan while the Chevrolet Tahoe and the GMC Yukon bagged the Best Large Utility award. The GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook won in the Best Crossover Utility category. The Best Pickup Truck was awarded to the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra. With those victories, General Motors swept the awards for large vehicles.

Other winners include the Hyundai Entourage and the Kia Sedona which shared the honor of being the Best Minivan. The Volkswagen Eos also walked away with the Best Convertible award. The Lexus LS, meanwhile, was chosen as the Best Luxury Sedan and the Infiniti G35 as the Best Sports Sedan. Ford’s sole success is the Ford Shelby GT500 which was named the Best Performance Car.

Honda, aside from the Fit, also won another award - this time for the CR-V which topped the Best Small Utility category. For the first time in the 25 year history of the Driver’s Choice Awards, the Best Eco-Friendly award was not given to a single vehicle model. This year’s winner of the Best Eco-Friendly award is the Toyota Motor Corporation for their dedication to make their cars more fuel efficient. The Best Dream Machine category winners are the Jaguar XKR, Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, and the Porsche 911 Turbo.