SUBANG JAYA: “Powered by dreams”, Honda City overtook its competition to win the New Straits Times-Maybank Car Of The Year (COTY) 2014.
The popular compact sedan beat 17 category winners to take the
coveted title at the COTY Awards Night at Saujana Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
COTY chairman Yamin Vong said Honda won because of its interior room, safety features and equipment that were ahead of its rivals and on par with those in bigger segments.
Honda City also won the award for best compact sedan.
The awards dinner was attended by Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Senator Datuk Lee Chee Leong, who lauded COTY and the NST Autoshow 2014 as important platforms for consumers and industry players to learn and highlight new products.
Also honoured was Perodua president and chief executive officer, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh, who won the Automotive Man of the Year Award.
Aminar won the award for his accomplishments in taking Perodua to greater heights. Under his guidance, Perodua recently launched Malaysia’s first energy efficient vehicle, the Axia, which is already a hit with consumers.
The People’s Choice Award, decided by votes from the public during the NST Autoshow, went to the Proton Iriz, while the Auto Accessory of the Year award went to FOBO Tire, the world’s first all Bluetooth Tire Pressure Monitoring system.
Eighteen other marques received awards in various categories, including best family car, best executive car and best MPV.
Present were New Straits Times Press chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, NSTP chief executive officer Datuk Mohammad Azlan Abdullah, NSTP group managing editor Datuk Abdul Jalil Hamid, Malaysian Automotive Association president Datuk Aishah Ahmad and Maybank head of consumer finance Abdul Razak Mohd Nordin.
COTY has been organised annually since 2002.