Jointly organised by individual motoring journalists from Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, this year’s ASEAN Car of the Year Awards (ACOTY) saw an unprecedented number of participating judges, doubling from last year’s inaugural event.
For the Malaysian category, a total of 73 vehicle models from 22 brands have been shortlisted for the final scoring.
In each country, the qualifying vehicles are scored by a panel of judges that includes not just motoring journalists from the respective countries, but also consumers participating in the largest online automotive consumer survey.
A panel of experts from banking and finance, insurance and warranty service providers will also be judging the vehicles on their reliability, and running costs and depreciation rates.
Meanwhile, the motoring journalists will assess the product attributes of the nominated vehicles, evaluating them from on price, equipment, safety, ride comfort, handling, overall performance, as well as interior and exterior design of the vehicles. Each judge’s individual vote will be casted in isolation, before it is combined with the weighted averagescores given the participatingpanel of experts.
A model that has won in its individual country-level category will automatically be in the running for the prestigious ASEAN-level awards if it is sold in all three participating countries.
Last year, the Porsche Macan was the Overall Winner in the inaugural 2015 ASEAN Car of the Year Awards, with the Nissan X-Trail and Mazda 2 coming in at second and third place respectively.
The final results of the 2016 ASEAN Car of the Year will be announced in December 2016.
Alongside European Car of The Year, North American Car of The Year and the prestigious World Car of The Year awards, the ASEAN Car of The Year awards is a timely recognition for the men and women who work in the one of the fastest growing automotive markets in the world.
The award seeks to better acknowledge the vehicles that exceed the expectations of ASEAN consumers, and to encourage car makers to compete to deliver the best possible vehicles for consumers in ASEAN.
The scoring mechanism used by the ASEAN Car of The Year is the most comprehensive and most in-depth scoring system ever introduced to any Car of the Year awards in any country or region. Through this, car makers will be able to extract valuable information that was never available before – performance in after-sales and value retention for example.
The transparency of the scores will also guide savvy consumers in making the right purchase.
*ASEAN Car of The Year Awards does not require any financial contributions from car makers to participate.The commercial rights to use award’s logos, findings and studies from the research and reports are provided to car makers free of charge.
Below are the finalists for ASEAN Car of the Year 2016 (Malaysia category):
| Budget Car of The Year
Proton Iriz PeroduaBezza PeroduaAxia |
Compact Hatch of The Year
Honda Jazz Ford Fiesta Mazda2 |
Compact Sedan of The Year
Honda City Mazda2 Volkswagen Vento |
| Family Hatch of The Year
Volkswagen Golf Mazda3 Ford Focus |
Family Sedan of The Year
Mazda3 Honda Civic Ford Focus |
Executive Car of The Year
Honda Accord Toyota Camry Mazda6 / 6 Wagon |
| Budget MPV of The Year
Toyota Sienta PeroduaAlza Nissan Grand Livina |
Mid-Size MPV of The Year
Nissan Serena Citroen Grand C4 Picasso Peugeot 5008 |
Large MPV of The Year
Honda Odyssey Toyota Alphard Ford S-Max |
| Crossover of The Year
Subaru XV Honda HR-V Mazda CX-3 |
Mid-Size SUV of The Year
Honda CR-V Mazda CX-5 Subaru Forester |
Large SUV of The Year
Mitsubishi Outlander Toyota Fortuner Nissan X-Trail |
| Premium Compact Car of The Year
BMW 1 Series Volvo V40 Mercedes-Benz A-Class |
Premium Family Car of The Year
Volvo S60 Mercedes-Benz C-Class BMW 3-Series |
Premium Executive Car of The Year
BMW 5 Series Mercedes-Benz E-Class Audi A6 Audi A7 |
| Premium Luxury Car of The Year
Rolls Royce Ghost Mercedes-Benz S-Class BMW 7 Series |
Premium Compact SUV of The Year
BMW X1 Mercedes-Benz GLA Class Lexus NX |
Premium Mid-Size SUV of The Year
Mercedes-Benz GLC Class Lexus RX Volvo XC60 |
| Premium Luxury SUV of The Year
Audi Q7 Volvo XC90 BMW X5 |
Driver’s Car of The Year
Golf R Mazda MX-5 Ford Fiesta ST |
Performance Car of The Year
Audi R8 V10 Porsche 718 Cayman/Boxster S Mercedes-AMG GT
|
| Coupe/Cabrio of The Year
Audi TT Ford Mustang Mazda MX-5 |
Grand Tourer of The Year
Bentley Continental GT Porsche Panamera Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe
|
Pickup Truck of The Year
Isuzu D-Max Ford Ranger Toyota Hilux |
Below are the participating publications and their representatives who casted their votes:
- Autobuzz – GC Mah
- Autobuzz – Matthew Hernandez Tong
- Autofreaks – Chris Wee
- AutoRepublic – Chung Yi-Shen
- Autoworld – Zachary Ho
- Carlist – Kon Wai Luen
- Carlist – GokulKandiah
- Carsome – Jason Loo
- Carsome – EuJin
- China Press – Chew Wooi Fu
- EVO – Bobby Ang
- EVO – Keegan Doorai
- KeyAuto – Alson
- KeyAuto – Allison Wong
- Live Life Drive – Arvinda Kumar
- Live Life Drive – Aswan Yap
- Mekanika–SyukranZainuddin
- Mthfkwin – Won
- Motorsportchannel – Chee TunPoey
- Motor Trader – Chips Yap
- Motor Trader – Keshy Dhillon
- Pandu Laju – Gan Yong Li
- RodaPusing – HishamJahudi
- RodaPusing – AlbakrySalehuddin
- WeMotor – Teha Rashid
- Zerotohundred – AmirulHazmi
