German Car Zone

DaimlerChrysler drove away with the "Car of the Year" title in the "NST MasterCard Car of the Year Awards 2005" with its Mercedes Benz CLS 350 model tonight.

To crown a memorable night for the company, its president and chief executive Datuk Frank Steinleitner was named "Automotive Man of the Year" in recognition of his contributions to the industry.

New Straits Times Press Berhad acting group editor-in-chief Datuk Hishamuddin Aun said the awards were recognised as one of the most prestigious in the automotive industry, hence winning an award was deemed a significant achievement.

"For this year’s overall Car of the Year award, the judges voted separately based on what they felt was the car that inspired them the most in terms of automotive technology and delivery of this technology, fitting the bill as the "best driving package" of the year," he said at the prize-giving ceremony.

The winners in the other categories were the Citroen C2 in the Supermini, Suzuki Swift 1.5 (Small Car), Honda City VTec (Family Car of the Year), Volvo V50 T5 (Premium Family Car of the Year), Audi A4 Turbo (Executive Car of the Year (below RM300,000), Mercedes Benz CLS 350 (Premium Executive Car of the Year (above RM300,000), BMW 740 Li (Limousine of the Year), Porsche 911 (Model 997) (Performance Car of the Year), Renault Grand Scenic (Midi MPV of the Year), Honda Odyssey (MPV of the Year), Ssangyong Rexton RX270XDi (SUV of the Year), Volvo XC90 (Premium SUV of the Year) and Toyota Hilux (Twin Cab Pick-up of the Year).

I’VE GOT IT: Steinleitner, with the award. With him are Shafie (left) and Hishamuddin. — NST picture by Salim Shaari

The event was officiated by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Also present were Malaysia Automotive Association president Datuk Aishah Ahmad and MasterCard International vice-president member relations and acceptance development (Malaysia/Brunei) Soong Chok Mun.

This is the first time the "Automotive Man of the Year" award has been awarded to a non-Malaysian.

However, industry players said Steinleitner has been in the Malaysian auto industry longer than most other auto expatriates, having been seconded to Cycle & Carriage when the company was the sole importer of Mercedes Benz vehicles.

The basic criteria for nomination is that each car must be a brand new model or a significantly revised upgrade of an existing model. Last year’s winners are automatic entries as defending champions.

This year’s winners were selected from a total nomination of 65 new models, and were judged by a panel of five senior automotive journalists on criteria such as exterior and interior design, passenger comfort and driver ergonomics and performance, driving characteristics, safety, perceived quality and value for money.

WINNER: The sleek Mercedes Benz CLS 350

The NST MasterCard Car of the Year Awards was first organised in 2002 by the Cars, Bikes & Trucks motoring section of the New Straits Times to recognise efforts of manufacturers, and also to serve as a guide to car buyers.

Steinleitner said he was honoured to receive the award.

"This is the first award I’ve received in my entire career, and naturally I am thrilled.

"I hope to continue working here and contribute to DaimlerChrysler’s growth in particular and the local automotive industry in general," he said.

Steinleitner, 47, has more than 20 years experience in the automotive sector and has been based in Malaysia over the past seven years.

I only care about this "BMW 740 Li (Limousine of the Year)"

can you post the links again? doenst work for me.

The title of the thread should had been "CLS is Premium Executive Car of the Year in Malaysia" cause it's now misleading.

BTW I 'm thinking of starting a new thread: Audi A4 is "Executive Car of the Year".

I will do that for you Yannis, also Just_Me, not sure which link you are speaking off.

He is the link for just_me:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/N...le/indexb_html

The CLS is a hit worldwide, just as I predicted:

CLS Sales

M