The public has spoken...so did the motoring media

After three months (July to September) of public voting combined with the local auto industry’s nine months (January to September) of selling, the country’s most preferred in each of the thirteen categories of Luxury and Standard automobile models and the most popular, the 2012 – 2013 Auto Focus Automobile of the Year—People’s Choice as presented by Caltex with Techron were proclaimed last Friday, October 19th at the Main Ballroom of the posh and iconic Valle Verde Country Club.

Sharing the honors during the annual public polls’ well-attended Awards Night were the recipients of the equally esteemed Auto Focus Media’s Choice Awards, which centered on six significant automobile attributes, namely, Best On-board Entertainment Set-up, Most Comfortable Ride, Best Safety Features, Best Value for Money, Best in Engine Performance and Best in Overall Design. The revised rules on determining the real recipients of the awards, which require for awardees to garner at least 50% of the all the votes cast in their category, just made winning a Media’s Choice Award very difficult but definitive, indisputable and uncontestable.

With this year’s polling process in the People’s Choice Awards putting a more weight of 60% on actual sales and 40% on public votes, the TOYOTA VIOS, which topped everybody else in sales with 12,068 units and got 13 votes for a combined total of 7,246 points, was the runaway claimant of the coveted title, AUTOMOBILE of the YEAR—People’s Choice for 2012-2013.

Being a Friday, a day which is inexplicably always marked with traffic gridlocks all over the Metro from early morning to late evening, there were quite a few who came a little late and almost missed out in witnessing the handing out of their awards. And there were quite a slew of awards that were given out that evening. This is primarily because on this 8th edition of the Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards we have decided to give distinction between Standard models and Luxury models, which almost doubled the number of awards that we have been giving out in the previous seven years. This novelty also applied to the awards decided on by the Motoring Media.

Because of this innovation there are innuendos from some quarters, especially from the Luxury models camp that we should also give distinction for the much-coveted Automobile of the Year title—one for among Luxury models. Well, perhaps that’s worth considering in future staging. What do you think? One thing is definite, our team together with Awards Committee chairman Gerry Aquino would surely have long evenings of discussions regarding this prospect.

Sunshine Television, which created the awards that now form part of its numerous annual institutional industry events that count among them, the STV Auto Rally Corporate Challenge and the up and coming Auto Focus Motor Show & Auto Expo with the tradition of staging the yearly Motoring Today Auto Industry Invitational Golf Cup started this year seemed to have benefitted from the old adage, “When it rains, it pours”. When in past events there was some amount of difficulty in looking for a window of availability in the very busy schedules of our gallant government officials who are in positions relevant to the auto industry, that night we got the nod of two of the “well-respected government officials who matter” to be our guest speakers—Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon and BOI Managing Head, DTI Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio.

While we have had Usec. Panlilio as a resource speaker in our last STV Industry Forum, and having been exposed to his intimate knowledge and understanding of the local auto industry encouraged us to have more of him, Commissioner Biazon confided in his speech that it was his first public exposure to the country’s automobile manufacturers and importers—and declared that he’s looking forward to more opportunities.

Usec. Panlilio, who was sitting on needles and pins while waiting for the proceedings to start owing to a succeeding commitment, gamely stayed on way beyond the time he projected that he could only stay. In his speech he highlighted the important role that the local auto industry is playing in shaping the country’s economic landscape and encouraged the industry players to seriously consider going into manufacturing to help the country regain its lost glory in the region’s automotive community. He also mentioned the possibility of further deserving incentives, which form part of the government’s existing support for business.

For his part, the young 3-term former Congressman, Commissioner Biazon was his typical no nonsense self in his efforts in cleaning one of the country’s top revenue centers and in addressing further the issue of automobile smuggling and the unabated illegal importation of used vehicles—stumbling blocks to the local auto industry’s growth and development. He graciously stayed on to have the honor of presenting the prestigious 2012-2013 Automobile of the Year Award—People’s Choice to Toyota Motor Philippines for their top-selling VIOS.           

To complete the cast of guest VIPs, we also had the privilege of having as special guest and presenter Mr. Cesar Quiambao, the president of STRADCOM, the long-time IT provider of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which they themselves endorsed to provide us the computer-generated documented data of automobile sales registered in the country from January to September of 2012.

Expectedly, the evening was capped with the traditional “all-in” participated in by the usual prospects from the motoring media.

The 2012-2013 Models of the Year—People’s Choice

Category              Standard              Luxury

Subcompact       Toyota Vios        BMW 1-Series   

Compact              Toyota Corolla Altis         BMW 3-Series

Midsize Sedan   Toyota Camry    BMW 5-Series

Large Sedan       Chrysler 300C     Audi A8L

Sports Car           Hyundai Genesis              Chevrolet Camaro

                    Coupe              

AUV       Toyota Innova

Pickup   Toyota Hilux      

Minivan                Suzuki APV         Toyota Alphard

Large Van            Toyota Hiace     

Compact SUV    Hyundai Tucson                Lexus RX350

Midsize SUV       Mitsubishi Montero        Audi Q5

                    Sport

Large SUV           Isuzu Alterra      Nissan Patrol Safari

Open     Subaru XV           BMW M5

Congratulations to all the winners!

Now comes the country’s

“biggest outdoor motor show”

Automobile and motoring enthusiasts shall troop to the Concert Grounds of the SM Mall of Asia from November 8 to 11 (Thursday to Sunday) for many reasons.

Foremost is the opportunity to test drive all your dream cars in one expansive, convenient and accessible venue. If you are in the market for a vehicle, your first car or your second or for your collection, you don’t have to go from one showroom to another—the remarkable brands are all in one place—Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Mitsubishi, BMW, Lexus, Isuzu, Nissan, Honda and local industry’s newest player, Peugeot on its first public display of all the models it is offering to the local market.               

All Gran Turismo enthusiasts will also find it hard to resist the huge cash prize of fifty-thousand pesos (P50,000.00) that’s waiting for the grand winner in the Auto Focus GT Challenge that shall run all throughout the weekend. 

There’ll also be “marching band” exhibitions and free band concerts in the early afternoon up to the evening aside from “all day” raffles of fabulous prizes from auto manufacturers and importers—a “must be there” event for the whole family.

Don’t miss the Auto Focus Motor Show & Auto Expo!

Happy Motoring!!!

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