Will it be Fiesta time for Ford or will Chevrolet Cruze to victory?

MANILA, Philippines—The summer heat is on and so is the battle for this year’s Car of the Year Philippines (COTY-P).

The prestigious title of Car of the Year is once again at stake as 14 cars made it to the first tier of the title as category winners.

Traditionally, the results are announced during the awards night that is usually staged early part of the year, from January to February. The Car Awards Group Inc. (Cagi) has recently announced that it will open the curtains for the Philippines’ 2010-2011 Car of the Year (COTY) at the seventh Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) on April 7 at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) in Pasay City located right beside the World Trade Center where the same auto show will be held.

This year, the winners of the COTY-P will be unveiled at the MIAS in a gala-type of awards, complete with all its pageantry reminiscent of the Oscar Awards.

Both the organizers of Cagi and MIAS felt the venue was deemed as appropriate since all of the car brands are represented there and the car buying public will be able to appreciate the winners being showcased in the exhibition halls of the PTTC and World Trade Center.

Best-in-class winners

This year’s best-in-class category winners are: Sub Compact Car—Ford Fiesta; Compact Car—Chevrolet Cruze; Mid-Size Car—Hyundai Sonata; Premium Mid-Size Car—Jaguar XF; Sports Car/Sedan—Subaru Impreza WRX Sti; Sub-Compact Crossover—Kia Soul; Compact Cross Over 2WD—Mitsubishi ASX; Compact Cross Over 4WD—Hyundai Tucson; Mid-Size Cross Over—Hyundai Sta. Fe; Premium Cross Over-Nissan Murano; Van & MPV-Foton MPX; Premium Van & MPV-Toyota Alphard; Mid-Size SUV—Mitsubishi Montero Sport GLX; and Pickup -Foton Blizzard.

Run by pro-consumer journalists

The COTY-P can perhaps be considered as the only award-giving body in the country run by bonafide journalists from different motoring-related publications and media outfits. It has no commercial interests whatsoever with any car brand since this body does not charge sponsorships or participation fees from the car manufacturers and legitimate distributors of the car brands vying for the title.

This is according to Ferman Lao, president for this year’s board of Car Awards Group Inc., which gives these awards each year. Cagi is a non-stock, non-profit organization composed of more than 50 motoring journalists in print, broadcast and online media outfits whose vision is to offer the country’s car buying public and a definitive guide of what are the best choices in the car market today.

Subdivided and segmented into several categories so each segment winner will be selected best in class while the overall winner will become the Car of the Year. Car models that win even just the category awards experience better sales results and oftentimes even use the COTY logo as a badge of approval not only in their showroom collaterals but also in the commercial ads that they publish.

And as an advocate of automotive excellence, it has earned the trust and goodwill of other organizations like the Autotmotive Association of the Philippines (AAP) and the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) who have been supporting the Cagi since its inception almost a decade ago. The AAP is the country’s biggest and oldest existing auto association. Founded in 1931, it is also a non-stock, non-profit organization committed to the general welfare of motorists in the Philippines. It is affiliated with the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the world’s largest auto club federation and governing body for motor sports worldwide. The MIAS on the otherhand, organizes RP’s biggest annual auto show and hosts the exhibits of these award-winning cars each year.

New changes in COTY-P

From a singular-year format, Cagi has decided to turn it into a dual-year format to synchronize its classification time frame with the automotive industry’s market. Because of this, there will be more eligible vehicles that will be included in the award’s time frame. It can also help the automotive market in providing the consumers with more vehicle selections that has Cagi’s seal of approval. Previous COTY winners includes the Honda Civic (2005), Mazda 6 (2006), Volvo C30 (2007), Subaru Impreza STI (2008) and the 2009 winner, the Subaru Legacy 2.5-liter GT.

Over 50 qualified nominees were tested from 20 manufacturers that formed 14 categories for the 2010-2011 COTY awards, and according to Cagi president Ferman Lao, he foresees that the winner for this edition may not need to be the best looking or the most luxurious car model, considering the current state of the global economy, it’s the car that offers a combination of economy and value for money that may end up the winner.

Judging from the online survey conducted by Top Gear, which was the first to release the category winners, public opinion puts the money on either the Ford Fiesta or Chevrolet Cruze, each getting over 40 percent of the respondent’s votes. Only 14 cars are qualified to the take the title for this year’s COTY-P since a best-in-class category win is a prerequisite for the big prize. However, it will not be up to public opinion but rather what the 50 or so members of the Cagi who took all the cars under qualitative and quantitative testings. The car with the highest number of votes bags the win in each category and the car that scores the highest in its points rating system will be this year’s Car of the Year awardee.

The 2010-2011 COTY Awards is presented by the Manila International Auto Show and is supported by the Clark International Speedway, SpeedLab, Caltex Techron, BOSCH, Worldbex, Ortigas Home Depot, Automotive Association of the Philippines, Congo Grille, Brother’s Burgers, MG Madrid & Co., All Terra Cyclery, Red Rock Travel, Life Line Ambulance Rescue, and Winner Graphics.