Press day at the Canadian International Autoshow opened yesterday with the announcement of the winners of the AJAC Canadian Car of the Year awards. Beating out the Honda Fit and Mazdaspeed 3 for top honours was the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

You can read the full AJAC press release after the break
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Over at Autoblog today, they’ve spotted a right hand drive something. Is it a Scion? Honda? Maybe it’s the upcoming 2nd gen Nissan X-Trail. Well, here in The Garage we can rule that one out.
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Over at Kicking Tires, they are reporting that Honda has decided to equip the entire product line with power windows, citing that “it’s not even a luxury touch anymore. It’s an expectation”. There are still a few econo holdbacks, but for the most part the industry is realizing that most consumers want power windows as a standard item. Remember the days when power windows only came bundled with power locks, cruise, power trunk release and moon roof. Ahhh…the dreaded power package is going the way of cargo vans with Cragars and shag carpet.

Honda has just announced it’s future plans for north America, including a new US auto plant and a new Canadian engine plant that will be in operation by 2008. Also detailed in the press release are plans to improve fuel efficiency including a new hybrid car and clean diesel technology.

The plan includes:

• Construction of a new auto plant in the U.S. with an investment of approximately
  $400 million to begin production in 2008, with employment of more than 1,500 associates at full capacity.
• Construction of a new engine plant in Canada to begin production of four-cylinder engines in 2008 with an investment of $140 million and employment of 340 associates.
• Expansion of U.S. engine, transmission and powertrain component production in Ohio and Georgia, with additional investment of $125 million and additional employment of 80 associates.
• Introduction in the U.S. and Canada in 2009 of a new, more affordable, dedicated hybrid car.
• Introduction in the U.S. and Canada within the next three years of new diesel engine technology that meets U.S. EPA Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards.
• Establishment of a goal to increase American Honda’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) by five percent over 2005 levels by the year 2010.

This ties in with Honda’s plans to build more environmentally friendly vehicles world wide, by increasing fuel efficiency on exisiting models. Perhaps the best news here is the creation of new jobs at a time when many North American manufacturers are cutting back. Way to go Honda!