CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (PRWEB) June 02, 2018 -- At the annual New England Motor Press Association's Technology Conference and Annual Awards Dinner held at MIT's Media Lab, on Wednesday, May 30th, WheelsTV and NEMPA presented the 2018 WheelsTV POV of the Year Award to the 2016 Toyota Prius.
The Toyota Prius first went on sale in Japan and other countries in 1997, and was available at all four Toyota Japan dealerships, making it the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. It was subsequently introduced worldwide in 2000. The 2016 Prius is the first year of the current, fourth generation of this revolutionary vehicle. (Wikipedia)
Now in its tenth year, the WheelsTV POV of the Year is the only national award presented to a pre-owned automobile. A distinguished judging panel drawn from a broad spectrum of the automotive press makes the selection after choosing finalists in eight disparate categories: Green Car, SUV, Crossover, Sporty Car, Small Car, Family Car, Light Truck and Luxury Car.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Wayne Carini, host of Velocity Network's Chasing Classic Cars, who explained the requirements for POVY consideration: "To be named the WheelsTV POV of the Year, the vehicle must be in service for at least two years and demonstrate outstanding long-term reliability and exceptional consumer satisfaction.”
Upon announcing the recipient of the 2018 WheelsTV POV of the Year Award, WheelsTV CEO Jim Barisano said, "The 2016 Toyota Prius broke new ground in styling, technology and fuel efficiency, setting the stage for the world’s transition to renewable fuels. Beyond that, its reliability and capabilities have created a loyal following of millions who love their Prius’s, making this amazing invention the 2018 WheelsTV POV of the Year."
Accepting the POVY was Jason Slayton, Ecommerce Manager for Toyota of North America. He stated, “Thank you to NEMPA and WheelsTV for this prestigious award. I don’t think that many of you realize this but the Prius has been on the road for twenty years now. That’s a long legacy for a vehicle! In that twenty years we actually sold over two million vehicles in the U.S. and here in New England we sold over 200,000. So there are plenty of pre-owned Prius vehicles in the market!”
Jason then spoke of Toyota’s goals in taking the Prius to the next level. “When we approached the 2015 redesign, we already had a hallmark of fuel efficiency so we looked at driving dynamics, styling and sought to integrate a whole new presence on the road while keeping the quality and dependability which were the hallmarks of the Prius. With wide consumer acceptance and now the 2018 WheelsTV POV of the Year Award, it appears that we have truly achieved our goals. Thank you very very much!”
WheelsTV Senior Writer, Rich Taber, profiles the amazing 4th Generation Toyota Prius in this video, which premiered at the NEMPA event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd3zju-N3TM&feature=youtu.be
The 2018 New England Motor Press Association Awards Banquet concluded an informative day in which the future of autonomous vehicles was explored and discussed by the automotive press and auto industry executives.
Jim Barisano, WheelsTV, http://www.WheelsTVNetwork.com, +1 (978) 264-4333, [email protected]
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