From left, Niel Pagulayan, Mika Fernandez-David and Ronnie Trinidad, directors of CAGI; Vernadeth Hiyao, Department Head, Product and Sales Development of Honda Cars Philippines Inc.; Delfin de Guzman, Vice President for Corporate Strategy of HCPI; Shohiro Sakoda, Executive Vice President of Isuzu Philippines Corp.; Nora Liquido, Corporate Communication Manager of IPC; Robby Consunji, President of CAGI; and Joseph Bautista, Sales Division Manager of IPC with the Car of the Year and Truck of the Year winner (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO).
The search for the 2016 Car and Truck of the Year Philippines has finally come to an end as the Car Awards Group, Inc. (CAGI), the country’s premier automotive award-giving body, announced this year’s big winners.
Honda’s all-new Civic RS Turbo CVT was named the 2016 CAGI and Carmudi.com.ph Car of the Year – Philippines (COTY-PH) while the Isuzu D-MAX 3.0L 4×2 LS AT took the title as the 2016 CAGI and Carmudi.com.ph Truck of the Year – Philippines (TOTY-PH).
The winners were honored at an awards night held on Nov. 21, at the One Rockwell East Tower in Makati City.
The Honda Civic RS Turbo CVT bested 64 other nominees in the car segment. It also won the Best Compact Car category for 2016. The award comes exactly 11 years since a previous generation Civic won the prestigious title in 2005.
Meanwhile, the Isuzu D-MAX 3.0L 4×2 LS AT not only won the coveted Truck of the Year title, but also the Best two-wheel-drive pickup.
Established in 2004, the CAGI is the longest-running organization of motoring journalists in the country today. It’s current membership has representatives from different media entities including Cebu Daily News.
“The COTY Awards is not simply a show of hands or popularity contest. It’s the only award in the country that is based on instrumented tests to gather evidence of real world acceleration, braking, and handling performance. No other organization employs such stringent testing methods to determine their COTY winners. After the number crunching by KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co., this data driven, unbiased program, ensures an accurate representation of an outstanding vehicle on category and overall basis. We trust that the COTY Awards will guide you in purchasing your next motor vehicle,” said Robby Consunji, President, Car Awards Group, Inc.