In previous years, the overall Vehicle of the Year was awarded to the car that brought something that was missing to the masses. The Civic won it before for rejuvenating the shrinking C-segment, and the Myvi won too for bringing Malaysians a no-compromise B-segment hatch. In this same spirit, the Volvo XC40 now joins their ranks for bringing an unbeatable package in CKD form to the luxury crossover segment.
No car has ever won two VOTY awards before, so that should really tell you how impressed we were with the Volvo XC40. As the market moves towards these sorts of vehicles, we’re happy to find a good example of how it should be executed. No compromises were made with regards to its performance and equipment level. To give you an idea of how well packaged it is, you can open the boot with a kick, fold the rear seats for a FLAT loading area, divide the floor space, access a hidden compartment and guess what? You still have a spare tyre. That attitude of solving problems and giving more than is expected pervades the XC40. This is why it truly deserves recognition as 2019’s Vehicle of the Year.
Volvo XC40 T5 R-Design Specifications
Engine: Inline 4, direct injection, turbocharged, petrol
Capacity: 1969cc
Gearbox: 8-speed Conventional Automatic
Max power: 252hp @ 5500rpm
Max torque: 350Nm @ 1800rpm
Top Speed: 230km/h
0-100 km/h: 6.4 seconds
Price: RM255,888
How VOTY Winners are selected.
Our process is simple and clean.
All cars launched in Malaysia within 13 months of 2019 are eligible for entry. We contact all car brands operating in the country and ask to test these cars. There are no participation fees, no buying of tables at the event, no charge whatsoever. All that’s needed is a fresh enough car, and a willingness to give our judges a test drive.
About a month before the event, the four judges from dsf.my and gohedgostan.com (Daniel Sherman Fernandes, Ross Hadi, Amirul Mukminin and Subhash Nair) convene to discuss which vehicles impressed us in each category. The judges can only vote on cars that they’ve driven. A simple majority is all it takes for a car to win in a category.
Our title sponsor Allianz recognises the integrity of our team and all players involved in deciding on winners and leaves all decisions to us regarding the winners. We hope our readers appreciate the efforts of all parties involved and provide us with feedback on how we can further improve on this.
