Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON - After three full days of testing 57 new vehicles around the Niagara airport facility in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the Automobile Journalist Association of Canada’s (AJAC) Test Fest has announced their category winners.  

To get you up to speed – Test Fest is an annual gathering of Canadian automotive journalists. They come together to test all of the vehicles under identical road, track, or off-roading conditions in order to come up with an unbiased winner for each category as well as the finalists for the Canadian Car of the Year.

Here are the vehicles that won and have been subsequently entered in the Canadian Car of the Year competition:

BEST NEW SMALL CAR (under $21k): Hyundai Accent
BEST NEW SMALL CAR (over $21k): Hyundai Elantra
BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (under $30k): Kia Optima
BEST NEW FAMILY CAR (over $30k): Kia Optima Hybrid
BEST NEW LUXURY CAR: Mercedes-Benz C-Class C350 4MATIC Sedan
BEST NEW PRESTIGE CAR (over $75k): Mercedes-Benz S-Class S350 BlueTEC 4MATIC
BEST NEW SPORTS/PERFORMANCE CAR (under $50k): Hyundai Veloster
BEST NEW SPORTS/PERFORMANCE CAR (over $50k): BMW 1 Series M Coupé
BEST NEW SUV/CUV (under $35k): Dodge Journey
BEST NEW SUV/CUV ($35k-$60k): Volkswagen Touareg TDI Clean Diesel
BEST NEW SUV/CUV (over $60k): BMW X3

The results were compiled by the international accounting firm KPMG and kept confidential until this morning’s press conference.  The over 70 journalists will once again take the winning cars out for test drives to determine the Canadian Car of the Year and Vehicle of the year winners.  Those winners will be announced at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario on February, 16th, 2012.