A COTY 2U CARnival will be one of the highlights of the New Straits Times/Maybank Car of the Year Awards 2010.
This was announced by New Straits Times Sdn Bhd Group Editor Datuk Syed Nadzri Syed Harun at the media launch of the New Straits Times/Maybank “Car of the Year” (COTY) 2010 held at the Peugeot Blue Box Showroom in Glenmarie recently.
“This inaugural event, to be held from November 20 – 21, is to present to the public the full line-up of all the 60 nominated vehicles for this year’s Car of the Year Awards."
“It is also targeted to bring Malaysian motorists, car models launched in Malaysia for Malaysian roads and car manufacturers together in a celebration of passion for motoring,” said Datuk Syed Nadzri.
“There will also be test drives, a defensive driving course, mini workshops on car safety, In-Car Entertainment (ICE) and Security Rating Awards at this fun-filled family CARnival,” Datuk Syed Nadzri said.
Maybank, Malaysia’s premier banking group and a leading player in automobile financing, is the official title sponsor for the COTY Awards for the fourth consecutive year.
“The Malaysian automotive industry is heading for a record breaking year in sales. With improved confidence of both consumers and businesses, automobile manufacturers are already experiencing greater demand for even better models in the coming year,” said Ashraf Ali Abdul Kadir, Head, Consumer Finance Maybank.
“As an automobile financier, Maybank too benefits from this growth as demand for financing will increase in tandem with the industry. This has already been obvious over the last year, in which we registered automobile loan growth of 12% for the year ended June 2010. This is the fourth consecutive year of double digit growth which incidentally parallels the period we have been title sponsor of the NST-Maybank Car of the Year Awards,” said Ashraf Ali.
Now in its ninth year, COTY is the country’s first motoring award started in 2002 by Cars, Bikes & Trucks, the motoring section of the New Sunday Times, to acknowledge achievements within the motoring industry.
A panel of 9 judges comprising of motoring journalists and other distinguished personalities will be testing over 60 new and substantially facelifted models classified into 13 categories.
New cars launched between November 2009 and October 2010 qualify for COTY.
The evaluation criteria includes styling, value for money, comfort and ergonomics, performance, driving characteristics, safety, emotional appeal and after sales service.
The highest scoring vehicle in each category wins the award for “Best in Class”. The Overall Car of the Year will then be selected from the list of 13 category winners.
The annual award is endorsed and supported by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
The COTY Gala Awards Night will be held on November 26 at The Saujana, Kuala Lumpur. More than 150 top automotive figures are expected to grace the event.
