AUTOCAR ASEAN has voted the SsangYong Rexton II as the Large SUV of the Year in its Car of the Year (COTY) Awards 2007.

The award was presented by Ms. Susan Ng, Director of Sales & Marketing of MTM Publications to Encik Muhammad Fadhil Ahmad, Managing Director of CSSB at the Bangsaria Showroom on Monday, 10th September 2007. The award presentation was witnessed by Mr. Chips Yap, Editor of motortrader.com.my web site & senior writer for Autocar Asean magazine and Mr. Melvinder Singh, General Manager of CSSB.

The Autocar Asean 2007 COTY Awards programme was for new models introduced between mid-2006 and June 2007 and had 14 separate categories to cover a wide spectrum of vehicles sold in Malaysia. Only vehicles assembled locally or officially imported by franchise holders during the qualification period were eligible and from a collection of almost 70 new models, a list of finalists totalling 49 models was selected.

The panel of three judges selected the finalists based on a variety of criteria such as styling, utility, safety, features, build quality, brand image, ride, handling, economy, performance and value for money. Each model was assessed in local conditions and points were allocated for each criterion, with the model scoring the highest number of points winning the award in its category.

"It's a buyers' market now as car companies woo customers with snappier advertising campaigns, more professional services and most crucially, better products - as all our finalists have amply demonstrated," said Denis Wong, Editor of Autocar Asean.

"In the case of the Large SUV winner this year - the SsangYong Rexton II - it is a car which exceeded all our expectations," he said of the winning model.