The story of the all-new Toyota Prius is similar to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling. From being the butt of the joke in the automotive industry to being an object of desire to many, it’s no wonder that the latest iteration has won the coveted 2023-2024 Japan Car of the Year award.

It succeeds the Nissan Sakura/Mitsubishi eK X (2022-2023), the Nissan Note (2021-2022), and the Subaru Levorg (2020-2021) for this award, beating the score of the second-place competitor, the BMW X1, by more than double.

Here are the awards:

JAPAN CAR OF THE YEAR

Winner: Toyota Prius (360 points)

Runners-up:

• BMW X1 (150 points)
• Honda ZR-V (100 points)
• Toyota Alphard/Vellfire (90 points)

IMPORT CAR OF THE YEAR: BMW X1 (U11)

DESIGN CAR OF THE YEAR: Mitsubishi Delica Mini

TECHNOLOGY CAR OF THE YEAR: Nissan Serena e-Power