NST-CBT Car of the Year 2008: May the best car wins!

This is the seventh year Cars.Bikes.Trucks has organised the Car of the Year (COTY) and being the first, the CBT team had surely gained a lot of experience to make the event better than the previous years.

For this year, the list of judges has grown and CBT have invited a few judges from other industries. This is done because cars are designed not only for car nuts, but for everyone. Including those not from the motoring industry will shade new perspectives in the COTY judging process.

As usual, only new models or those with significant updates (facelifts which includes technical changes, revision of pricing or ownership of the brand) can enter the COTY. Judges will have to get acquainted to all the nominees and with more than 60 cars, this can be quite a challenge.

Winners will be announced during the official event dinner on 27th November 2008.

The COTY Nominees for 2008 are:

A) Entry Level Car
1. Chevrolet Aveo Notchback
2. Hyundai Accent
3. Hyundai i10
4. Naza Forza
5. Proton Saga
6. Toyota Vios

B) Premium Small Car
1. Fiat Bravo
2. Honda Jazz
3. Renault Clio 1.6L
4. Volvo C30
5. Proton Satria Neo R3

C) Family Car
1. Chevrolet Optra Magnum
2. Hyundai Elantra
3. Nissan Sylphy
4. Proton Gen2 CPS
5. Proton Persona IAFM
6. Proton Waja CPS
7. Suzuki SX4 Crossover
8. Toyota Altis

D) Executive Car (below RM200,000)
1. Honda Accord 2.0 / 2.4L
2. Mazda6 2.5L
3. Peugeot 407 CKD
4. Volvo V50 2.4L

E Premium Executive Car (above RM200,000)
1. Jaguar XF
2. Lexus GS300 Facelift
3. Mercedes-Benz E230 Avantgarde
4. Honda Accord 3.5L V6
5. Mercedes Benz C230 Avantgarde Advance
6. Lexus IS 250
7. Audi A4 1.8T

F) Limousine
1. Mercedes-Benz S500 CKD
2. Lexus LS460 SWB

G) Performance Car (below RM300,000)
1. Hyundai Coupe FX
2. Mazda MX5
3. Volkswagen EOS
4. Peugeot 308GT
5. Honda Civic Type R
6. Peugeot 207CC
7. Renault Megane CC
8. Renault Megane F1 R26
9. Renault Clio RS
10. VW Polo GTI

H) Performance Car (above RM300,000)
1. BMW M3
2. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (X)
3. Volkswagen Golf R32
4. Audi TT
5. BMW 135i
6. Mercedes Benz SL350
7. Mercedes Benz SLK200

I) Midi MPV
1. Grand Livina
2. Honda Stream
3. Mazda5
4. Toyota Rush (2WD)
5. Kia Rondo

J) Large MPV
1. Hyundai Starex 2.5CRDi VGT
2. Mercedes-Benz R280
3. Renault Grand Espace
4. Chery Eastar

K) SUV
1. Chevrolet Captiva 2.0D AWD
2. Perodua Nautica AWD

L) Premium SUV
1. Audi Q7
2. Mazda CX9
3. BMW X6

M) Pickup Truck
1. Mitsubishi Triton 2.5L Lite
2. Mitsubishi Triton 3.2L Auto

The panel of COTY judges are:

Yamin Vong
Editor, Cars, Bikes & Trucks and
Chairman, Panel of Judges, COTY 2008

Hezeri Samsuri
News Editor, CBT and BH Auto

Paul David
Technical Editor, CBT

Thomas Huong
Senior Writer CBT

Lee Pang Seng (Leeps)
Editor for Auto International and contributor for a few other local publications

Justin Ong
cars.my

Shamsul Yunos
Contributing Editor for Bike Trader and contributor for a few local publications. He has published his own book on getting the best (fuel economy) from your car.

Chew Wooi Foo
ShangHai Business Monthly

Yani Fadzil
Deputy Editor Harper’s Bazaar

Dato Dr Teoh Siang Chin
An activist in the medical fraternity on health and safety issues regarding the transport industry. He is also an accomplished motorcyclist and car enthusiast

Professor Sulik Sulaiman
Uniiversity Darul Iman Malaysia, Faculty of Design, Innovation and Technology

Dr Max Long :)
A private medical doctor, an automotive contributor and has an automotive blog: For Wheels