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

At a grand event on the first 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.

“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 pick ups 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!”

Category winners and other special awards can be seen below:

Categories

Winner

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

CLARK INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY MOTORSPORTS AWARD

Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc.

SPEEDLAB TUNER'S AWARD

Toyota 86

BOSCH TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT AWARD

Foton Thunder

AAP ROAD SAFETY AWARD

Ford Focus with Active City Stop

ETON CENTRIS URBAN WARRIOR AWARD

Subaru XV

STANDARD INSURANCE AWARD

Chevrolet Trailblazer

CALTEX WITH TECHRON GREEN AWARD

Toyota Prius C

RCBC SAVINGS & AUTO LOANS BEST VALUE FOR MONEY AWARD

Kia Rio 1.2 LX