The inaugural 2015 ASEAN Car of the Year awards

Every year, we see a number of Car of the Year being crowned, each by one publication or another. While each have their own criteria in judging and the winners well-deserving the title bestowed upon them, the time has come to move beyond enthroning the best car in Malaysia.

In finding the regional winner,  15 journalist from various automotive media came together to share knowledge, impressions and experience. Speaking at the awards presentaaon ceremony at the View Rooftop Bar @ GTower, Kuala Lumpur, 2015 ACOTY Secretary Mr. Bobby Ang said, “With ASEAN’s growing importance in the global automoave industry landscape, it is important to create a bridge of acknowledgement for this region in the form of an automoave awards program to translate market needs towards the effort of car makers operating in this region.”

 

The ASEAN Car of the Year Panel of Judges

Chips Yap, Motor Trader

Gan Yong Li, PanduLaju.com

Denis Wong, CounterSteer.my

GC Mah, AutoBuzz.my

Johan Izham Jamalulil, TrafficMagOnline.com

Qhalis Najmi, TrafficMagOnline.com

Kenneth Sow, Kensomuse.com

Kon Wai Luen, Autoworld.com.my

Mathhew Tong, AutoBuzz.my

Tom Goh, ZeroToHundred.com

Vishal, NST-Cars, Bikes and Trucks

Yap Kam Foo, Top Gear Malaysia (Chinese Edition)

Chris Aaron, LiveLifeDrive.com

Daniel Wong, Malaysian Evo

Hans Cheong, Carlist.my

 

Mechanics for Judging

Each judge is asked to nominate vehicles under 22 categories and from there, the top three models were shortlisted. The judges are then asked to score each of the three based on Price (value against competition), Safety (active safety, passive safety and safety telemetics such as reverse camera, auto headlamps) , Performance (ride comfort, handling and outright performance) and Quality (fit & finish, interior design, exterior design) and the winner for the Malaysia country sector is chosen.

A fourth criteria, Owner Experience is also taken into consideration and is based on reliability & dependability (data drawn from warranty provider; done by Opal Auto Mart Sdn Bhd), depreciation & running costs (data drawn from insurance provider; done by Liberty Insurance Berhad) and after sales & service satisfaction (data drawn from consumer survey).

By having such a large diverse group of experienced automotive-specific judges as well as factual data from other sources, we would be able to see a result that more accurately reflects what and how we truly feel about certain vehicles and why you should seriously consider them if you’re in the market to purchase one. Here are the winners:-

 

WINNERS – 2015 ASEAN CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS (MALAYSIA CATEGORY)

BUDGET CAR OF THE YEAR – Kia Picanto

COMPACT CAR OF THE YEAR – Mazda 2

FAMILY CAR OF THE YEAR – Mazda 3

EXECUTIVE CAR OF THE YEAR – Honda Accord

FAMILY MPV OF THE YEAR – Mazda Biante

PREMIUM MPV OF THE YEAR – Honda Odyssey

CROSSOVER OF THE YEAR – Honda HR-V

COMPACT SUV OF THE YEAR – Mazda CX-5

FAMILY SUV OF THE YEAR -Nissan X-Trail

PICK-UP TRUCK OF THE YEAR – Ford Ranger

COUPE OF THE YEAR – BMW 2-Series

PREMIUM COMPACT CAR OF THE YEAR – Volvo V40

PREMIUM FAMILY CAR OF THE YEAR – Mercedes-Benz C-Class

PREMIUM EXECUTIVE CAR OF THE YEAR – BMW 5-Series

PREMIUM FLAGSHIP OF THE YEAR – Mercedes-Benz S-Class

PREMIUM COMPACT SUV OF THE YEAR – Land Rover Range Rover Evoque

PREMIUM MID-SIZE SUV OF THE YEAR – Porsche Macan

PREMIUM SUV OF THE YEAR – Porsche Cayenne

PREMIUM COUPE OF THE YEAR – Audi TT

PERFORMANCE CAR OF THE YEAR – Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

GRAND TOURER OF THE YEAR – Porsche Panamera

DRIVER’S CAR OF THE YEAR – Volkswagen Golf R

From here, The Top-3 overall ACOTY winners are selected.  There are three levels of judging, and each step cuts the list down until three finalists are left, before deciding on the overall winner by virtue of its final score in the scoring mechanism.

LEVEL ONE:

a. Must be a category winner in all three countries

b. Must be sall on sale across all three countries during the judging period

LEVEL TWO:

a. Launched within the last 5 years

b. Launched within the last 3 years

c. Launched within award year only

LEVEL THREE: (Final criterion of eliminaaon)

a. To deliver the full brand experience in Malaysia

SCORING: (only applicable for top-3 finalists for overall ACOTY)

a. Combine scoring across 3 countries to determine 1st , 2nd and 3rd

 

WINNER OF THE 2015 ASEAN CAR OF THE YEAR

The Porsche Macan has been declared overall winner at the inaugural 2015 ASEAN Car of the Year (ACOTY) award in Kuala Lumpur.  First runner-up is the Mazda 2 followed by second runner-up Nissan X-Trail.

The ACOTY Award is the only automoave industry award programme formed exclusively to reward outstanding vehicles in the ASEAN region. The final results and tabulation of the winners from all three countries can be viewed on the ACOTY official website, www.caroftheyear.asia by the next week.

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2015 ASEAN Car of the Year! Until next year!