The 2015 Toyota Highlander named Canada’s Best New SUV/CUV

The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada has announced its category winners in the annual Canadian Car of the Year Awards, and Toyota has come out on top as the Best New SUV/CUV ($35,000-$60,000) for the 2015 Toyota Highlander

“We built the Toyota Highlander to be fun to drive, stylish and reliable all in an effort to deliver the best to Canadian drivers.” said Larry Hutchinson, Vice President at Toyota Canada Inc. “We’re pleased that the members of AJAC have agreed it’s a winning formula.”

2015 Toyota Highlander XLE AWD

(MSRP: $40,195)

The Toyota Highlander is a great family vehicle for Canadians with modern, active lifestyles – and for 2015, Toyota redesigned Highlander to give this proven mid-size SUV a more emotional design, more advanced technologies, additional versatility, and improved driving dynamics.

The Highlander’s exterior is sleek and strong. Its interior is comfortable and quiet, featuring soft touch materials and other premium finishes, plus an impressive complement of comfort and convenience features.

Compared to the previous generation Highlander, this model offers more hip room in the third row seats, 34% more cargo space behind the third row, and an available power tailgate that makes cargo access a breeze.

Highlander is built on a passenger car-style platform to provide a comfortable ride. For 2015, Highlander delivers better on-road feel to make long commutes or road trips even more enjoyable, while improvements to Highlander’s chassis and a more rigid body structure have improved handling.

The AJAC-winning model is an eight-passenger, XLE grade featuring the all-weather confidence of all-wheel-drive with Toyota’s Dynamic Torque Control and Downhill Assist Control and Hill-start Assist Control systems to maximize performance and drivability.

The XLE grade features: a navigation system; smart key with push button start; a 6-speaker audio system with an 8” touch screen, voice recognition, Bluetooth connectivity, integrated XM Satellite Radio; a clever dashboard shelf designed specifically to hold personal electronics – complete with a convenient pass-through for cords; leather seat surfaces; heated front seats; leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob; plus more.

The 2015 Highlander XLE AWD also features the Toyota Easy Speak system, which easily allows the driver and front passenger to communicate with those in the rear of the vehicle, using a microphone and the rear speakers.

Other notable features available for 2015 include: a power moon roof; three-zone independent automatic climate control; flip-up glass hatch on the power rear door; a larger, full-colour multi-information display; and integrated garage door opener to name a few.

The Toyota Highlander is available in four gasoline-powered and three hybrid-powered models, with a total of three powertrain options and a choice of seven-person or eight-person capacity. For more information on features and specifications, visit www.toyota.ca/highlander.