AFPCA Auto Poll Goes On-site at PIMS

MANILA, Philippines - The ongoing online poll of the Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards (AFPCA) will be made available to visitors of the forthcoming 5th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) that will be held at the World Trade Center this Sept. 18-21. Sunshine Television (STV), the organizer of the poll-based merit award program specific to the local automobile industry, will open an on-site polling center at the motor show venue to enable the public to participate in this annual public poll that determines the country’s most popular automobile brands and models.

The 3-month AFPCA voting period which got underway last July 1 is at its homestretch and will end midnight of September 30. 2014. Vying for “2014-2015 Model of the Year” honors is a banner field that is divided into Standard and Luxury categories. In this year’s undertaking of the AFPCA, a separate and much-coveted “2014-2015 Automobile of the Year” title will be awarded for each category for the first time.

“Currently accessible to voters on-line via our website at www.autofocus.com.ph and through a dedicated page on the most popular social networking site, we at STV are delighted to bring the AFPCA poll on the ground and within easy reach at the venue of a well-attended and sought after event such as the Philippine International Motor Show.” explained Ray Butch Gamboa, Chairman/CEO of STV.

“Considering that practically each model on display and available for test drive during the PIMS is also a candidate for possible awards in the AFPCA, the motoring public will have a real first-hand and hands-on opportunity to appraise their preferred or favorite models, and vote for these right there at the venue. They even get the chance to win prizes that are to be held every hour throughout the 4-day span of the event.”

The AFPCA is now on its milestone 10th year with this year’s undertaking. It is the country’s only award system for the automotive industry that determines the winning models based on a unique selection process that combines on-line public votes and unit sales. The on-line poll is being hosted on the Auto Focus website and in a dedicated AFPCA page on a popular social networking site. After a simple procedure of “Liking” the page and registration, the voter will be prompted and guided through a convenient process of selecting individual models in the designated categories, and from these, choosing a particular model as the “Automobile of the Year” pick. Within seconds, any submitted vote will appear on the Results Page which will rank Total Scores accordingly. This tally can also be publicly viewed AFPCA web-site and will also be on display in real time at the PIMS venue. Like last year, a 40 percent weight factor on on-line votes will be applied in calculating a particular model’s total score. For Unit Sales, a value of 60 percent will be factored in. No second-hand or gray market vehicle is included in the count which will feature monthly unit sales from January thru end September of 2014. Visitors at the PIMS may vote once a day.

On tap are “2014-2015 AFPCA Model of the Year” awards in such mainstream categories as: Sub-compact, mid-size & large sedans; sports/performance cars; multi-purpose vehicles (MPV’s); pick-ups; vans; compact, mid-size & large sports untily vehicles (SUV’s) and an Open category for models that cannot be classified in the preceding classes. There will be separate “Luxury” classifications in model categories with significantly distinct pricing scales. From these categories, which currently comprise over 140 base models, will emerge the popular pick for the key “2014-2015 AFPCA Automobile of the Year” prize in separate Standard and Luxury classifications.