Nasim Sdn Bhd’s Peugeot 308 Turbo was named Overall Car of the Year at the New Straits Times/Maybank Car of the Year 2009 awards ceremony that was held in Subang Dec 14.
The prestigious award marks the first time a member of the Naza Group has won an overall car of the year award. It is also the first time the Peugeot brand has been honoured such an award in Malaysia.
"We have never doubted the Peugeot 308's potential. It is an attainable European premium offering. There isn’t anything else in its segment that offers the same combination of power, dynamics, safety, premium quality and fuel efficiency that the Peugeot 308 Turbo does," said SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, CEO of Nasim Sdn Bhd.
Besides being named overall car of the year, the Peugeot 308 Turbo also won the top prize in the family car category. The judges of the awards said the Peugeot 308 Turbo was picked over its competitors due to its fuel efficiency, performance of its award-winning 1.6-litre direct-injection turbo engine as well as its full-length panoramic glass roof.
Furthermore, they said the locally-assembled Peugeot 308 Turbo won because of its competitive price positioning and build quality.
"When we took-over the Peugeot franchise on Jan 2, 2008, we promised to make the Peugeot brand a success story in Malaysia. And in just under 24 months from that date, we are on track to delivering on our promise and this overall car of the year award is a sign of things to come from us," SM Nasarudin said.
The Peugeot 308 was chosen as the winner in the Midsize Sedan/Hatchback category of the recent AUTOCAR Asean Car of the Year Awards 2009.
For the awards, judging was conducted via allocating points for styling, utility, safety, features, build quality, brand image, ride, handling, economy, performance and value for money.
Among the comments from the judging panel was “Choosing the Peugeot 3088 as the winner was a surprisingly easy decision. Combining value with practicality, a lengthy spec sheet and great dynamics, it deservedly won over some very talented cars.”
Other nominees in the category were the Mitsubishi Lancer GT (facelifted), Mazda3 Sport, Hyundai i30, Nissan Sylphy (Impul tuned), Fiat Bravo GT, Honda Civic and Ford Focus.
