The votes were cast. The votes have been counted. Like the recent elections in a country far, far away but so near our hearts because so many of our families live there, the voting and the counting have been fair and square.
And unlike those aforementioned elections, and no one will be crying fraud.
We’re talking about the annual Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards and the Auto Focus Media Choice Awards. This year, of course, has proven unprecedented in many ways.
The voting went live on April 1 and ended after an extended eight-month on November 30. And for two weeks heading in final judging, unit sales were audited and incorporated in the final tally of votes. The consolidated were ratified and submitted before the AFPCA Awards Committee.
The AFPCA and the AFMCA are part of Sunshine Television’s annual Automobile Industry Merit Program which aims to give car buyers a voice as to which they think are the best forms of personal mobility out in the market.
The awards also recognize the automobile industry’s sustained efforts to provide car owners and motorists with the best on-board features, styling, performance and overall value.
Before we congratulate this year’s winners, we’d like to express our sincerest appreciation to all those who participated in Sunshine Television’s annual merit programs, by way of sponsorship, support, and voting.
We’d also like to gratefully acknowledge the participation of a very select group of recognized motoring media professionals and practitioners for being part of the awards.
In the 2020-2021 Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards, the Standard Automobile of the Year is the Toyota Hilux.
The Luxury Automobile of the Year is the Toyota Alphard.
The Models of the Year are:
1. Standard Sedan of the Year – Toyota Wigo
2. Luxury Sedan of the Year – Mercedes-Benz E-Class
3. Standard Sports Car of the Year – Ford Mustang
4. Luxury Sports Car of the Year – Porsche 911
5. Standard SUV/Crossover of the Year – Toyota Rush
6. Luxury SUV/Crossover of the Year – BMW X2
7. Standard Van/MPV of the Year – Mitsubishi Xpander
8. Luxury Van/MPV of the Year – Honda Odyssey
9. Standard Pickup of the Year – Nissan Navara
In the 2020-2021 Auto Focus Media Choice Awards, the winners are:
BEST DESIGN
Standard Category:
Mini Sedan — Honda Brio
Subcompact Sedan — Mazda2
Compact Sedan — Mazda3
Midsize Sedan — Mazda6
Subcompact SUV/Crossover — Suzuki Jimny
Midsize SUV/Crossover — Mazda CX-9
Pickup — Ford Ranger
MPV — Mitsubishi Xpander
Luxury Category:
Luxury Subcompact Sedan — MINI Cooper
Luxury Compact Sedan — Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Luxury Midsize Sedan — BMW 5 Series
Luxury Large Sedan — Porsche Panamera
Luxury MPV — Peugeot Traveller
Luxury Van — Toyota Alphard
BEST ENGINE PERFORMANCE
Standard Category:
Mini Sedan — Honda Brio
Midsize Sedan — Mazda6
Sports Car — Nissan GT-R
Midsize SUV/Crossover — Mazda CX-9
Pickup — Isuzu D-Max
MPV — Toyota Innova
Van — Toyota Hiace
Luxury Category:
Luxury Subcompact Sedan — BMW 1 Series
Luxury Midsize Sedan — BMW 5 Series
Luxury Large Sedan — Porsche Panamera
Luxury Sports Car — Lamborghini Huracan
Luxury Compact SUV/Crossover — Porsche Macan
Luxury Midsize SUV/Crossover — Porsche Cayenne
Luxury MPV — BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer
Luxury Van — Lexus LM350
BEST SAFETY FEATURES
Standard Category:
Mini Sedan — Honda Brio
Compact Sedan — Mazda3
Midsize Sedan — Honda Accord
Compact SUV/Crossover — Subaru Levorg
Pickup — Ford Ranger
Van — Toyota Hiace
Luxury Category:
Luxury Subcompact Sedan — BMW 1 Series
Luxury Compact Sedan — Mercedes-Benz C Class
Luxury Midsize Sedan — Mercedes-Benz E Class
Luxury Large Sedan — BMW 7 Series
Luxury Compact SUV/Crossover — Range Rover Evoque
Luxury Midsize SUV — Volvo XC60
Luxury Large SUV — Volvo XC90
Luxury MPV — BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer
Luxury Van — Lexus LM350
BEST VALUE FOR MONEY
Standard Category:
Mini Sedan — Honda Brio
Subcompact SUV/Crossover — Geely Coolray
Midsize SUV/Crossover — Isuzu Mu-X
Large SUV/Crossover — Mitsubishi Pajero
Van — Toyota Hiace
Luxury Category:
Luxury Subcompact Sedan — BMW 1 Series
Luxury Midsize SUV/Crossover — Lexus RX350
Luxury MPV — Peugeot Traveller
Luxury Van — Toyota Alphard
TAKING A TOLL
The move to 100-percent cashless transactions at tollgates has certainly taken a toll on motorists, the tollways operators and the government authorities themselves.
Blame has been passed around freely for the problems that came as a result of trying to get hundreds of thousands of vehicles installed with RFIDs in a relatively short period of time.
We all know these problems as most of us have experienced suffering or continuing to suffer the long lines at RFID installation sites, the congestion at tollgates with defective RFID readers, problems with “stolen” or missing “credit or load.”
Motorists were blamed for procrastinating until the deadlines. Government authorities for shortsightedness in policies and guidelines. Tollway operators for inefficiencies. The CoViD-19 pandemic itself for causing supply problems with production and shipment of RFIDs. The providers of the cashless payment system to tollways for glitches in their systems that steal loads.
Still, we must all grin and bear the problems that comes with trying to keep tollgate operations from being vectors for the spread of CoViD-19.
Now, the government reports that 90 percent of transactions in the country’s toll roads were through radio frequency identification (RFID) sticker use, as a result of the implementation of the cashless transaction since December 1, 2020.
It also reports that as of December 8, more than 3.7 million RFID stickers have been installed, compared to 1.4 million when the program just started.
Meanwhile, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has already warned tollway operators to immediately implement various measures to resolve the issues that caused congestion at toll roads.
However, motorists should expect the issues with RFID transactions and congestion at entrance and exit tollgates should be resolved sooner than later.
Also important to be aware of is Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade’s assurance to senators during a recent Senate hearing that the transportation agency is carefully studying the implementation of the 100-percent cashless transaction by giving extension to the toll operators to improve their system, and to provide quality service to motorists, while adapting to digitization and ensuring health and safety of the Filipinos.
Said he: “Yung unang effectivity ng November 2, sinabi kong gawing December 1. Pagkatapos, pagkarating ng December 1, dahilan sa karanasan na ‘yan, among others, sinabi ko dapat i-maintain pa rin ang cash booth, dapat i-maintain pa rin ang cash transactions at walang huhulihin at pagmumultahin.”
