Jaguar Land Rover Malaysia (JLRM) has once again clinched the prestigious Retailer of the Year (Asia Pacific) award at the Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Awards 2022/2023. This marks the third consecutive year and the fourth time overall that JLRM has received this esteemed recognition.
The Retailer of the Year Award, presented annually, acknowledges top Jaguar Land Rover retailers across the Asia Pacific region. It serves as a benchmark for retailers, setting high standards for delivering exceptional retail customer experiences. Nominees undergo evaluation based on specific performance criteria in marketing, sales, customer service, staff training, and retailer presentation.
Volvo’s latest technology innovations have not gone unnoticed. Through them, the automaker was named Car Technology Brand of the Year for the second year running. The Volvo XC60 was awarded Best Safety Technology for its Steering Support system, Best Navigation, and Best Safest Car due to its exceptional Euro NCAP safety rating.
The Car Tech Awards honours manufactures with the best in-car technology launched over the year. The Winner of each category is chosen by a jury of experts from buyer’s guide Carbuyer and technology website Alphr. It should come as no surprise that cars like the XC60 are lavished with such praise when safety is the criteria.
It is fitted with Volvo’s Steering Support technology that automatically provides steering assistance to drivers during an emergency to help avoid a potential collision. Working in tandem with its city stop function, the car will be able to decrease the risk of avoidable collisions or accidents significantly.
Speaking of the award, Stuart Milne, Editor of Carbuyer, said, “Volvo’s success in the Car Tech Awards is remarkable. The company scooped Car Technology Brand of the Year for the second year in succession.”
“Our judges were impressed by the way Volvo refuses to rest on its laurels, developing a series of products and philosophies that build on its Vision 2020, that no one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by 2020,” he added.
Volvo’s XC60 almost scored full marks in its Euro NCAP crash test results. It received a 98% rating adult occupant protection and 95% for its safety assistance features. Adding to that, its intuitive and easy to use navigation system as well as a number of other features have made it the complete package.
Honda has bagged a number of new awards in North America, with the most notable of the lot being awarded to the 2018 Accord. It has been named Overall Best Buy of 2018 by Kelley Blue Book (KBB). It is one of 7 accolades that the Japanese automaker won from a total of 12 ‘Best Buy’ award categories.
According to the judges, the Accord bested the competition because it managed to outclass its rivals in all categories despite being considerably cheaper. Besides this, it also offers decent fuel consumption and features that offer the best bang for your buck.
The following is the full list of Honda vehicles that were recognized during the awards ceremony:
Speaking of Honda’s latest achievements, Jeff Conrad, senior vice president of the Automobile Division of American Honda, said, “We’re exceptionally proud to have dominated this year’s Kelly Blue Book awards, which really reinforces our unique focus on individual car buyers and on delivering the best overall value.”
Honda’s reputation for building vehicles of decent quality with impressive reliability standards have won over many North American car buyers. Despite stiff competition from local and Japanese rivals, it still continues to win award after award.
Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class has been hnoured at the first ever BusinessCar awards. It won the ‘Best Premium Car’ title while its bigger brother the S-Class, was named the winner of the ‘Best Luxury Car’ category.
According to the automaker, both of its models received their respective accolades due to exceptional comfort levels, technology and competitive monthly running costs. Adding to that, the S-Class also had a ‘luxurious and unrivaled interior’ something that isn’t said often due to the relatively stiff competition faced at this side of the segment.
Regarding this, Rob East, Head of Fleet, Mercedes-Benz Cars UK, said, “Both the C-Class and S-Class are perfect examples of what Mercedes-Benz does best, combining unbeatable comfort with competitive running costs, plus excellent interior quality. It’s great to see these strengths being recognised by key members of the Fleet industry.”
The editor of BusinessCar stated that the reason that the C-Class trounced the competition was due to the fact that it had set a high bar when it came to comfort, tech and efficiencies, as well as having strong residual value. This means that on paper at least, buying a C-Class over other rival models makes more sense from a consumer’s prespective.
In recent years, Mercedes-Benz has been producing some of the best cars the automotive world has to offer. The styling of the new models are pretty clean and attractive, which is complemented by equally sophisticated and forward-thinking tech. This combination has allowed the German based automaker to bag awards from different competitions.
This momentum doesn’t seem to be ending soon as the automaker has revealed plans and concept vehicles that might turn the automotive world upside down. One thing is for sure, This level of competition could only mean one thing, the cars that will be made available soon, will offer us more bang-per-buck than in previous years.
Ferrari’s venerable 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, the very same that powers the 488GTB, 488 Spider has been named International Engine of the Year in the 3.0 to 4.0-litre category. It is also the same engine, albiet with a slightly smaller displacement, that can be found in the Italian Automaker’s California T and GTC4Lusso T models.
Speaking of Ferrari’s latest honour, Tony Robinson, founder of the International Engine of the Year Awards, said, “This is only the second time in the history of the IEOTYA that such a powerful performance engine has taken the overall honours two years consecutively and won the most coveted, outright IEOTYA title. The Ferrari V8 is all about amazing power delivery, precision, driveability and a wonderful soundtrack, too.”
The automaker has dominated the award’s above 4.0-litre and Performance Engine Categories for the past six years. And this year, Ferrari’s naturally-aspirated 6.3-litre V12 engine, the very same unit that powers the F12berlinetta and F12tdf, received the Above 4-litre award for the second year in succession and third in total.
Having said that, the V12 engine is the most special of the lot for Ferrari. That’s because this was the original configuration that the company started its legacy with, exactly 70 years ago in 1947. It’s hailed to this day as the quintessential powerplant of the brand and through constant development, will continue to power the crème de la crème of performance cars that bear the Prancing Horse badge.
Since delving into the forced-induction game in recent years, Ferrari has managed to create turbo engines that offer little to no turbo lag resulting in exceptional levels of linear power delivery. These masterpieces that Maranello has been producing, are of some of the most technologically advanced engineering marvels of the modern world.
Mercedes-Benz has won two awards at the inaugural Auto Trader New Car Awards. The first award was for the “Best car for Long Distances”, which was picked up by the C-Class and the second, was for the E-Class by winning the ‘Best Car for Families’ award.
Unlike most motoring related awards, the Auto Trader one is a bit different. Winners aren’t chosen by a panel of judges, instead, decisions are based on the opinion of 10,000 consumers who have bought, driven and lived with these vehicles – they provide unbiased and valued insight of the ownership experience.
Krishan Bodhani, Head of smart and Product Management, Mercedes-Benz Cars UK, said: “It’s a huge honour for us to win two awards at the first ever Auto Trader awards, especially as the votes are cast by customers.”
Currently, the E-Class line-up is as diverse as it has ever been thanks to the recent addition of the E-Class Cabriolet and E-Class All-Terrain as well as several petrol and diesel engines to the line up. How well Mercedes-Benz does this year remains to be seen. But if they keep churning out cars like the current E-Class, 2017 should be a good year for them.
