AsianAuto – Bosch Fuel Efficiency Awards – 2008 Winners

INAUGURAL AWARD UNVEILS MALAYSIA’S MOST FUEL EFFICIENT CARS
• First-ever national award to recognize the most fuel efficient cars in Malaysia
• A total of 175 models from 25 car manufacturers judged in 19 categories
• Awards aim to spur car manufacturers to raise the benchmark in Malaysia’s Auto industry

Asian Auto and Bosch Malaysia joined hands to organize the first-ever national award to recognize the most fuel efficient cars in Malaysia. The inaugural Asian Auto-Bosch Fuel Efficiency Awards saw a total of 25 car manufacturers submitting entries for 175 car models to be judged in 19 categories.

Based on the qualification period from October to end November 2008, only vehicles assembled locally or imported by official distributors qualified for judging. From the entries of 175 car models, the top three most fuel efficient cars were selected as finalists for each category.

All cars vying for each category were judged based on the fuel efficiency data submitted tabled. This information was checked against data received from the manufacturers in Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States. The third party audit of the information was conducted by ISM Insurance Services Malaysia.

During his speech at the awards dinner, Alexander Haid, Director of Automotive Aftermarket Division, Robert Bosch (SEA) Pte. Ltd, ASEAN said, “As a global supplier of Automotive Technology which has been constantly developing technologies and products that protect the environment and conserve resources, Bosch believes due recognition should be given to car manufacturers for their efforts in coming up with better and more fuel efficient vehicles. With the volatility in fuel prices along with the call for reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, this would also raise the benchmark for Malaysia’s Auto industry in this area.”

Sharing the motivation behind launching the inaugural Asian Auto-Bosch Fuel Efficiency Awards was Daniel Fernandez, editor of Asian Auto, ”With the current global economic uncertainty and rising costs of living, consumers are more cautious when spending on big ticket items such as cars. It is timely for us to provide this independently audited information which can be made available to the buyers at the showroom level.”

In Europe, it is compulsory for cars sold to have their fuel consumption figures stated on the windscreen or in the sales kit. Fuel consumption figures that have been tested by the road transport department of the respective countries are made available to consumers.

“From January 1st 2009, Australia will be the first country in the Asia Pacific region to enforce this rule to display fuel consumption information at the showroom level. The Australian road transport authority has tested a range of vehicles and the results are expected in coming weeks. While this has not been implemented in Malaysia yet, we believe that Malaysian consumers will benefit from such information. With these annual fuel efficiency awards, it is our hope that car manufacturers will be motivated to introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles such as small capacity diesels, invest in new technologies and develop or introduce alternative fuel cars into the Malaysia market.”

The Asian Auto – Bosch Fuel Efficiency Awards 2008 saw Audi bagging the most awards that night.

The 19 categories for judging were as follows: Compact City Cars, Compact Premium City Cars, Family Cars, Premium Family Cars, Luxury Family Cars, Executive Cars, Premium Executive Cars, Super Saloons, Super Sport Coupes, Performance Cars, Pickup Trucks 4×2, Pickup Trucks 4×4, Compact MPV, Luxury MPV, Compact SUV, Compact Luxury SUV, Luxury SUV, Supercars and Lowrider Pickup.

Car marques represented in all the categories include Perodua, Proton, Hyundai, Kia, Naza, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Skoda, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Ford, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Nissan, Audi, Lexus, Volkswagen, Renault, Citroen, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Subaru, Land Rover, Range Rover, Ssangyong, Fiat, Mazda, Lotus.

Commenting on the judging process, Chief Executive Officer of ISM Insurance Services Malaysia, Carl Rajandram said, “For the awards, we used the combined fuel efficiency statistics from the ISM database to determine the winners. The combined statistics was derived as a weighted average of the urban and highway fuel consumption figures. The testing was done in accordance with the EU standard. The public can obtain the fuel efficiency data via our consumer website at https://www.carprices.com.my”

Click here to view the complete list of winners and car models competing in each category or you could just check out the gallery below.

The Winners Gallery:

The Awards Night: