In one of the keenly contested and prestigious auto awards in the Middle East, Volvo S60 drove away with the coveted ‘Car of the Year’ honour at the Middle East Motor Awards (MEMA) ceremony held at Expo Centre Sharjah on Thursday, November 3, 2011.
H.E. Mohammad Ben Sulayem, Vice-President of FIA Middle East and President of the Automobile and Touring Club UAE, in the presence of Mr. Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General of Expo Centre Sharjah, handed over the awards to the winning car manufacturers. Mohammed Ben Sulayem is also the Official Patron of MEMA.
“I am proud to continue my support for the Middle East Motor Awards. As in the inaugural edition, the second edition of the Awards too has been extremely well executed and a great testament to the importance of the motoring industry across the Middle East,” said Ben Sulayem after the ceremony.
“Automobiles are very important in Arab culture and something very dear to my own heart, and I am delighted that the Middle East Motor Awards provides an opportunity to give something back to the industry as a way of appreciation,” added Ben Sulayem, while congratulating the winners in different categories.
A well-balanced and stylish luxury sedan, Volvo S60 has a strong turbocharged six-cylinder engine, smooth ride quality and leading-edge safety technology. The 2011 Volvo S60 was the first car to enter the market with an optional pedestrian detection system that spots real, live humans and automatically applies brakes to help avoid colliding with them.
The awards, judged by a panel of distinguished automotive journalists, professional race drivers, motorsports experts, tuning & off road experts, chose Lamborghini Aventador as the Best Supercar, Kia Optima as Best Midsize Sedan, and Jeep Grand Cherokee as the Best Midsize SUV.
“MEMA is the most coveted and prestigious award in the Middle East. It is also the most credible award of its kind, judged by 19 highly sought-after automotive experts from 10 countries, including Lebanon, Oman, Jordon, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It is also the ultimate recognition for vehicles in various categories,” said Mr. Al Midfa.
“Many new products have arrived on the Middle East motoring scene in the past 12 months and against this highly competitive background we, at Chrysler Group Middle East, are extremely happy and proud to have won the Best Midsize SUV Award for Jeep Grand Cherokee. We are delighted that MEMA has recognized the efforts that have gone into the making our products. Judged by a panel of top-notch journalists, the MEMA is a truly credible award – one that is a real achievement,” said Jack Rodencal, Managing Director, Chrysler Group Middle East.
Hyundai won in two categories -- Best Subcompact (Hyundai Accent), and Best Small Sedan (Hyundai Elantra). “MEMA is an exciting event for Hyundai because it is the biggest automobile award in the whole of Middle East. We’re happy that our hard work and commitment to providing our customers with high quality, great value cars is being recognized and rewarded,” said BT Shin, President, Hyundai Middle East.
“It’s really exciting to win the award in the Best Premium Sports Car category for our Porsche 911 GTS and the Best Performance SUV for our Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Having an independent jury to experience and select our cars as benchmarks in their respective segments is very important to us. MEMA has become a highly desired accolade in the regional automotive sector,” - George Wills, Managing Director - Porsche Middle East & Africa FZE.
Other winners include Best Large Sedan - Dodge Charger, Best Executive Sedan - Audi A6, Best Performance Sedan - BMW M3 , Best Compact SUV - Kia Sportage, Best Midsize SUV - Jeep Grand Cherokee, Best Luxury SUV - Range Rover, Best Truck - Ford F150, Best Sports Convertible - Nissan 370Z, Best Premium Sports Convertible - Audi R8 Spyder; Best Premium Sports Sedan - Mercedes CLS and Best Premium Subcompact - VW Golf R.
The nomination and judging process for the second edition of the Awards lasted well over eight months with each jury member required to fill in individual scorecards for all the nominated vehicles. The judging criteria was based on various technical and consumer aspects such as vehicle design, handling, safety features, emotional appeal, value for money, etc. All the scores were tallied and the vehicles with the maximum points were awarded the prestigious titles.
The first edition of the Middle East Motor Awards was held along with the International Automobile Show in 2010 and the next edition of the Awards will be held during the 11th edition of the show from November 28 to December 1, 2012.
Middle East Motor Awards, considered as the only independent and the biggest award of the regional automotive industry, is organized by Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
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