Media Room

PETALING JAYA: For the second year running, Honda Malaysia won top honours at the CarSifu Editors’ Choice Awards with the Honda CR-V 1.5 TC-P (two-wheel drive) taking the “Car of the Year” title.

The sporty 1.5-litre turbocharged sport utility vehicle (SUV) also won the Best SUV/Crossover – Mid-size 4×2 as well as the Most Well-Specced Mid-size SUV/Crossover categories.

This 2017 Honda CR-V won as it is more powerful, continues to offer sedan-like handling, provides class-leading interior spaciousness and practicality.

The awards, organised by Star Media Group, honour the best passenger vehicles in the market and recognise the automotive industry as one of the key pillars of the economy.

Honda Malaysia group vice-president Akkbar Danial received the trophy from Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai at a gala dinner yesterday at The Royale Chulan Damansara hotel.

Also present were heads and representatives of car companies, Star Media Group group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, and chief revenue officer Lim Bee Leng.

Wong said cars were no longer simply tools to ferry one from one point to another.

“Globally, customers are getting more accustomed to the increasing amount of digital technology integrated into their cars,” he said.

For the awards, a total of 53 vehicles were nominated across 31 categories.

Among the cars that scored big wins was the BMW 740Le xDrive which won in three categories, namely Best Large-size Luxury Executive Car, Most Well-Specced Luxury Large-size Car and also, Business Ride of the Year.

The Honda BR-V (V grade) was another major winner in two categories, namely Best SUV/Crossover – Compact and also, Best Family Ride priced under RM100,000.

Another dual category winner was the Renault Koleos 4WD which won Best SUV/Crossover – Large-size 4×4 and also, the Most Well-Specced Large-size SUV/Crossover category.

The Kia Grand Carnival EX also clinched two awards, namely Best Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) priced below RM200,000 and also, Best Family Ride priced from RM100,000 to RM200,000 (three seating rows).

In the Most Well-Specced categories, other winners were the Hyundai Elantra Sport (Mid-size Car category), Kia Optima GT (Large-size Car), Volvo S90 T5 (Luxury Mid-size Car) and Jaguar F-Pace R-Sport (Luxury Large-size SUV/Crossover).

The Proton Iriz 1.6-litre Premium CVT was named Best Compact Hatch while the Peugeot 208 Puretech won the Best Economy Car (1.0-litre to 1.5-litre) category.

The Toyota Sienta (V grade) won Best Compact MPV while the Mazda3 G-Vectoring Control (High Skyactiv) clinched the Best Mid-size Car (C-Segment) award.

The Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TSI Highline won Best Large-size Car (D-Segment) while the locally assembled Mercedes-Benz E 250 Avantgarde was named as the Best Mid-size Luxury Executive Car.

The MINI Cooper S Countryman took the Best Luxury SUV/Crossover – Compact award while the Mitsubishi Triton VGT Adventure X won Best Pick-up Truck.

The Porsche Panamera won Sporty Luxury Large-size Sedan of the Year while the Lexus LC 500 clinched the top honour for Best Design.

The Hyundai Ioniq HEV Plus was named Hybrid Vehicle of the Year, while the Mercedes-Benz C 350 e won in the Hybrid Luxury Vehicle category.

The Diesel Engine of the Year was won by the Mitsubishi 2.4-litre MIVEC Turbo Diesel engine seen in the Triton pick-up truck, while the Petrol Engine of the Year went to the economical 1.2-litre turbocharged Peugeot 3-cylinder PureTech engine.

Some of the award-winning cars, along with several recently launched vehicles, will be presented at the Carsifu Auto Show 2017 to be held at Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 25 to 29.

Boustead Petroleum Marketing and Silverstone Marketing are Star Media Group’s partners in the awards and auto show.