THE Toyota Wigo, which currently dominates the mini sedan market, was proclaimed the Automobile of the Year (AOY)—Standard Category at the Awards Night of the 2018-2019 Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards (AFPCA) held recently at the Grand Ballroom of the Valle Verde Country Club, Pasig City.
Topping the AOY—Standard Category count with a consolidated score of 3,316.2, the Wigo out-pointed the Mitsubishi Montero Sport at 2,863 points. The Toyota Wigo also landed the Sedan of the Year title for its third Model of the Year (MOY) crown, after having previously won last year and in 2015.
In the Premium/Luxury classification, the Lexus NX300 compact sports-utility vehicles/crossover registered the highest score with 837.2 points, which gave it a reed-thin 3.6-point winning margin over its midsize stablemate, the Lexus RX350. The NX300 also bagged its first Model of the Year award by topping the SUV/Crossover of the Year category.
The AFPCA, organized by Sunshine Television and Marketing Services Inc. since 2005, is an annual public poll that aims to determine the country’s most popular automobile brands and models. It features a unique scoring system that attributes 80 percent value to public votes from the July 1 to September 30 online poll and 20 percent to unit sales. Official sales volume data for the AFPCA was furnished by Stradcom Corp. with the official sanction of the Land Transportation Office. The data covered only “Completely built” and “New imported” units that were put in for new registration with the LTO from January to September 2018. So-called grey market and used vehicles were excluded. The AFPCA scoring methodology yields MOY awardees in five Standard and four Premium/Luxury classifications and the AOY in separate Standard and Premium/Luxury categories from over 180 models in the 2018 AFPCA Official Entry List.
In the race for the other four Standard MOY awards, the Ford Mustang registered its first-ever victory in the Sports Car category, even as the Nissan Urvan went back-to-back in the Van/MPV class. The 2018 Pickup of the Year award went to the Nissan Navara, its fourth such award after also having won it previously in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Of note is the 2018 SUV/Crossover of the Year title by the Mitsubishi Montero Sport, which also won MOY honors in 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2017. Now a five-time winner, the Montero Sport becomes the newest entry in the elite Auto Focus Model of the Year Hall of Fame.
For the other three Premium/Luxury Model of the Year awards, the Audi R8 V10 made its debut as a Sports Car of the Year victor. And in the Van/MPV classification, the Honda Odyssey notched up its third straight win. The stand-out in the Premium/Luxury MOY batch this year is the Lexus IS350, which bagged the Sedan of the Year crown, its fifth consecutive MOY title, which also elevates it to the AFPCA MOY Hall of Fame.
During the same evening, due recognition was also conferred upon winners of the “2018-2019 Auto Focus Media’s Choice Awards”, an equally important component of STV’s Automobile Industry Merit Program. The AFMCA aim is to further recognize the automobile industry’s continuing efforts to provide car owners and motorists with the best onboard features, styling, performance and overall value. A select group of recognized motoring media professionals and practitioners comprised the AFMCA Voters’ Panel. Prompted by a record-high number of entries and the evident level of parity in many model categories, the Awards Committee reviewed the previous years’ majority rule and opted for 1/3rd or 33.3-percent vote tally requirement for media awardees. The previous 12 Standard and 10 Premium/Luxury model classes were retained. Based on this, 45 winners emerged from the 88 award categories.
Best Design–Standard:
7 Awards
Chevrolet Spark (Mini); Mazda 2 (Subcompact); Mazda 6 (Midsize Sedan); Civic R-Type (Sports Car); Ford Ranger (Pickup); Hyundai Grand Starex (Van); Mitsubishi X Pander (MPV)
Best Design–Premium/Luxury:
BMW 5-Series (Midsize Sedan); Porsche Panamera (Large Sedan); Lamborghini Aventador (Sports Car); Toyota Alphard (Van); Mercedes-Benz B-Class (MPV)
Best Engine Performance–Standard
Honda Brio (Mini); Mazda 2 (Subcompact); Honda Civic R-type (Sports Car); Mitsubishi Pajero (Large SUV/Crossover); Isuzu D-Max (Pickup); Nissan NV350 Urvan (Van); Toyota Innova (MPV)
Best Engine Performance–Premium/Luxury:
MINI 3-Door and 5 Door (Subcompact); BMW 5 Series (Midsize Sedan); Porsche Panamera (Large Sedan); Porsche Cayenne (Midsize SUV/Crossover); Toyota Alphard (Van); Mercedes-Benz B-Class (MPV)
Best Safety Features–Standard:
Volkswagen Golf GTS (Compact Sedan); Ford Expedition (Large SUV/Crossover); Hyundai Grand Starex (Van)
Best Safety Features–Premium/Luxury:
Mercedes-Benz A-Class (Subcompact); Volvo S60 (Midsize Sedan); Volvo XC60 (Midsize SUV/Crossover); Volvo XC90 (Large SUV/Crossover); Mercedes-Benz V-Class (Van); BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer (MPV)
Best Value-for-Money–Standard:
Toyota Wigo (Mini); Toyota Camry (Midsize Sedan); Suzuki Jimny (Subcompact SUV/Crossover); Isuzu mu-X (Midsize SUV/Crossover); Isuzu D-Max (Pickup); Nissan NV350 Urvan (Van)
Best Value-for-Money–Premium/Luxury:
Lexis IS350 (Compact Sedan); BMW 5 Series (Midsize Sedan); Lexus LS500 (Large Sedan); Lexus NX300 (Compact SUV/Crossover); Toyota Land Cruiser 200 (Large SUV/Crossover); Peugeot Traveler (MPV)
The awards night was graced by top officials of the country’s car manufacturers and distributors, the auto industry’s two lead organizations, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Association of Vehicle Importers & Distributors, as well as motoring media professionals.
Image credits: Larry Weitzman