The class-defining new Ford Ranger received top scores from Malaysian and Thai judges at the inaugural 2015 ASEAN Car of the Year (ACOTY) awards held recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The inaugural 2015 ACOTY judging panel comprised motoring journalists from Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia as well as industry experts including insurers and third-party warranty service providers from across the ASEAN region.
For a vehicle to be eligible for the country level awards, the judging panel of each country nominated vehicles that were officially available for sale in their respective countries. Upon tabulation from the ACOTY committee, the three most nominated cars in each category formed the finalists for each country’s twenty two categories.
To provide a holistic evaluation of each vehicle, an industry-first scoring mechanism that combines the scores from the judging panel, industry experts, as well as customers to cover the full scope of vehicle ownership, was employed. This was created to reflect a vehicle’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of reliability rating, depreciation ratio, as well as ownership experience.
The new Ranger was rated highest by judges from Malaysia and Thailand, making it ‘Pick-up Truck of the Year’ in the Malaysia and Thailand categories. The award marks the third accolade for Ranger in recent months. As well as the top of the line Ranger Wildtrak winning ‘Pick-up Truck of the Year’ at the New Straits Times-Maybank Car of the Year (COTY) 2015, Ranger was recently awarded a maximum five-star safety rating by the ASEAN New Car Assessment Program (ASEAN NCAP), with a total Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) score of 15.45/16 points – the highest of any pickup truck in Malaysia.
The five-star ASEAN NCAP rating reinforces Ranger’s safety leadership, with up to six airbags – three times more than any other pickup in Malaysia. Ford’s Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and ISOFIX child safety mounts also come standard, making Ranger the only pickup truck in the country to offer these two important safety features across all variants.
