2009 CIAS: Ladies and gentlemen, your vehicles of the year!

The culmination of over five months of on-road evaluation, voting—and then voting again—the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada kicked off this year’s CIAS by announcing the winners of the 2009 Canadian Car, Utility, Design and Technology awards.

Mitsubishi’s sophisticated new AWD system that debuted on the 2009 Lancer Evolution super sports compact was chosen by us journo types over General Motors’ OnStar stolen vehicle locator technology and Infiniti’s 360-degree surround parking system for the 2009 Best New Technology Award.

The highlight of the Mitsu’s system is its ability to toggle torque laterally between the two rear wheels.

For the 2009 Best New Design Award, the functionality of the Honda’s new Fit won out over the flashier Jaguar XF Supercharged and the Volkswagen Passat CC.

It was no surprise Ford’s Flex beat out the Mercedes-Benz M Class and the Subaru Forester for this year’s Best New Utility Vehicle.

The ‘Benz only came to the game with a new clean diesel engine. And the Subaru is tops in its segment, but doesn’t really move the yardsticks in the cute-ute class.

Maybe this award will help the Flex’s slow sales start.

OK (drum roll, please), now to the highly coveted 2009 Best New Car of the Year…

After last year’s backlash when the über performing (and über expensive and über rare) Audi R8 won the big prize, bang for-the-buck won out with all three of this year’s finalists: Mazda6, Toyota corolla and Hyundai Genesis.

And the winnuh is…the Hyundai Genesis.

As the Genesis has the potential to measurably move the perception of the Hyundai AND offers real value for tens of thousands of dollars less than comparable and more established luxury brands, history may look on the car as the most significant to debut this year.

Do you think the Flex and Genesis are deserved winners?

Are there new 2009 models were missing from the list of finalists?

Do COTY awards have any value in helping you with your car purchase?