Local motoring industry showered with accolades

Guna (centre, in grey suit) flanked by Yeow (to his right) and Wang with winners at StarCarSifu Editors’ Choice Awards 2023.

SOME 250 guests at the StarCarSifu Editors’ Choice Awards 2023 gala dinner were treated to good food and entertainment during the awards presentation.

The dinner took place at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral and included special invitees Transport Ministry Procurement and Finance Division under secretary Guna Arulalan David, Malaysian Automotive Association president Shamsor Mohd Zain, Malaysian Advertisers Association president Claudian Navin Stanislaus and Media Specialists Association vice-president Sue-Anne Lim.

Representing Star Media Group (SMG) at the glitzy gathering were group chief executive officer Alex Yeow, chief business officer Lydia Wang and chief content officer Esther Ng.

In total, 54 cars competed in 30 categories at this year’s awards.

The shortlisted cars were from Aston Martin, BMW, BYD, Chery, Ford, GWM, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Jaguar, Kia, Lexus, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Perodua, Peugeot, Porsche, Proton, Range Rover, Subaru, Toyota and Volvo.

Proton, Toyota, Honda and BMW were the major winners at the awards ceremony.

BMW won in four categories, Honda netted three wins and Toyota and Proton secured two wins each.

The Proton X90 Flagship won the Local Car of the Year award while the Toyota Vios G took the Asian Car of the Year title.

The BMW i7 xDrive60 M Sport was chosen as the Continental Car of the Year.

To be shortlisted for the 2023 awards, the vehicles must have been launched in Malaysia from Oct 1, 2022, to Sept 30, 2023.

The awards, organised by SMG and StarCarSifu, honour outstanding cars for advancements and innovations in design, features and green technology.

Cars are judged in areas such as safety, performance, comfort, handling, styling and value-for-money proposition, as well as their individual “wow” factor.

The StarCarSifu Editors’ Choice Awards was first held in 2016 and became an annual event. It took a break in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed last year.

This year’s edition of the gala dinner was sponsored by Carlsberg Malaysia.

In his remarks, Guna said that Malaysia’s automotive industry had grown from strength to strength, and that the country had not only become an attractive base for global automotive manufacturers but also successfully established its national cars.

He also said that the implementation of the National Automotive Policy 2020 successfully opened more windows of opportunities for the country, as well as further strengthened the industry.

Meanwhile, Yeow in his speech said that the automobile industry was undergoing a transition as more companies were giving serious thought to introducing environmentally friendly vehicles.

“We have witnessed rising interest in electric vehicles or EVs,” he said.

For the full list of winners, log on to carsifu.my

Photo Gallery: All glitz on the night for industry players