Mitsubishi Mirage hailed as the 2012-2013 Car of the Year Philippines

BASIC SUBCOMPACT CAR            Mitsubishi Mirage GLS MT

SUBCOMPACT CAR         Hyundai Accent Hatch CRDi

COMPACT CAR  Ford Focus Titanium (Sedan)

MIDSIZE CAR      Toyota Camry 2.5V

PREMIUM MIDSIZE CAR                Volvo S60 D3

RWD SPORTS CAR            Hyundai Genesis 2.0T w/ Brembo Brakes           

FWD SPORTS CAR            MINI Coupe Cooper S

COMPACT CROSSOVER 2WD       Mazda CX5

COMPACT CROSSOVER AWD      Honda CR-V 2.4 EX AWD

MIDSIZE CROSSOVER     Hyundai Santa Fe 2WD

LARGE CROSSOVER         Ford Explorer FWD 2.0T

LUXURY COMPACT CROSSOVER                Range Rover Evoque

SUV       Mitsubishi Montero Sport 3.0 V6 GLS

PREMIUM SUV Jeep Grand Cherokee

COMPACT VAN and MPV             Toyota Avanza 1.3E

VAN and MPV   Peugeot 5008

LUXURY VAN and MPV  Honda Odyssey

PICK-UP 4x2       Ford Ranger 2.2 MT

PICK-UP 4x4       Mazda BT50 4x4 AT

At a grand event on the opening day of the 2013 Manila International Auto Show, the Car Awards Group, Inc. (CAGI) has revealed the 2012-2013 Car of the Year—Philippines: the Mitsubishi Mirage.

The culmination of a year’s testing, preparations and deliberations by the Car Awards Group, Inc, the 2012-2013 COTY-P season saw a field of 81 new cars, crossovers, SUVs, trucks, sportscars and vans that competed in 19 different categories, as well as the coveted title of Car Of The Year - Philippines.

CAGI is an organization founded in 2004 by a group of the most respected motoring journalists in the country, with the objective of spurring industry growth in the automotive sector by informing the motoring public of product excellence through the Car of the Year Awards. Since then, the organization has grown to encompass over 50 members from the nation’s leading broadcast, print and online media outlets. Testing procedures have also been refined to consider the needs, wants and preferences of the car buying public as well as absolute performance characteristics of each newly introduced vehicle every year.

“The 2012-2013 Car Of The Year Philippines season was a tough one,” said Ferman Lao, CAGI President. “It wasn’t just in terms of the sheer number of cars that had to be tested, but the continually increasing improvements, value and competitiveness each new model brought to their respective classes.”

The Mitsubishi Mirage GLS MT was given top honors after scoring highly in the subjective testing done at Eton Centris in Quezon City as well as in the instrumented and track tests conducted at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga by CAGI’s team of technical experts.

New for the 2012-2013 is the title of Truck Of The Year Philippines. The winner of the new title category was determined by a number of factors more specific to pickups such as approach, departure, breakover angles and other aspects that matter in a pickup truck. After the testing was completed and tabulated, the Mazda BT50 4X4 AT took the win, besting out all the vehicles in the class.

“Congratulations to Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp and Berjaya Auto Philippines, Inc. for bagging the top titles in this year’s awards season, and congratulations to the 19 winners in their respective categories, they are this year’s best cars that you can buy.” said Lao. “Thank you to all who have supported and took part in this year’s awards season, and here’s to the next one!”

The 2012 - 2013 Car Of The Year Philippines awards is presented by the Manila International Auto Show and is supported by the Clark International Speedway, Caltex with Techron, Eton Centris Walk, Standard Insurance, BOSCH, RCBC Savings & Auto Loans, Victoria Court, Dole Juice Drinks, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts & Coffee, MG Madrid & Co., Winner Graphics, Automobile Association Philippines and SpeedLab.

The Car Awards Group, Inc, an organization composed of motoring journalists from the country’s premiere print, broadcast and online publications , and is supported by media partners Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, The Manila Bulletin, The Daily Tribune, BusinessMirror, The Manila Times, Malaya Business Insight, Sunshine Television, AutoReview, StoplightTV,  AutoIndustriya.com, Kotse.com, Interaksyon.com, Top Gear Philippines, AQ Magazine, Speed Magazine, Manila Standard Today, Jam 88.3, C! Magazine, Wave 89.1, Gadgets Magazine, Motioncars.com, Motorcycle Magazine, World News, Sprocket.ph and PowerWheels Magazine.