28 11 2011THE RCZ IS MALAYSIA'S CAR OF THE YEAR
The highly-acclaimed Peugeot RCZ added another accolade to its long-list of honours by winning the Overall Car of the Year award at the NST-Maybank Car of the Year (COTY) 2011.
The award tops off a record year for the French Lion in Malaysia. Besides the Overall Car of the Year award, the RCZ took home the top prize in the Coupe category at the NST-Maybank COTY 2011.
The award also marks the second time Peugeot has won an overall car of the year award in Malaysia. In 2009, the 308 Turbo won the Overall Car of the Year award at the NST-Maybank COTY 2009.
"The RCZ, with its avant-garde styling and proportions, heralds a new dynamic chapter in Peugeot's history. It's stunning design, premium offerings and exceptional drivability has made it a success globally and in Malaysia," said SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, Joint Group Executive Chairman of the Naza Group of Companies.
The Peugeot RCZ, which was voted the most beautiful car at the 25th International Automobile Festival, was introduced to the Malaysian market in May this year.
It's sculptured and dynamic exterior features an athletic, elegant and aerodynamic style. Its double-bubble roof and rear window, in particular, represent a technological engineering achievement for a mass-produced vehicle.
A 2+2 coupe, the RCZ is offered by Nasim Sdn Bhd in both automatic and manual transmissions mated to a powerful twin-scroll turbocharged engine.
The automatic variant produces 156 bhp and 240 Nm of torque while the manual variant produces an astounding 200 bhp and 275 Nm of torque. The automatic variant is priced at RM218,888 OTR while the manual RCZ is priced at RM223,888 OTR.
The RCZ has picked several accolades this year since its launch. It won the top prize in the coupe category at the AUTOCAR Asean Awards 2011 as well as the Sports Car and Design of the Year awards at the Live.Life.Drive Car of the Year 2011 awards.
The two awards for Peugeot at the NST-Maybank COTY 2011 tops off a record-breaking year for the French brand in Malaysia. For the first 10 months of the year, Nasim has sold 4,561 units, up 61% from the volume recorded in the whole of 2010.
En SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, Joint Group Executive Chairman of the Naza Group of Companies accepts the award for Overall Car of the Year which went to the Peugeot RCZ from Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry. Looking on are (from left to right), Mr Yamin Vong, Editor of Cars.Bikes. Trucks, Datuk Aishah Ahmad, President of MAA, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Chairman of NSTP and Mr Lim Hong Tat, Deputy President and Head Community Financial Services for Maybank.
(From left to right) Dato' Samson Anand George, COO of Nasim accepts the award for Coupe of the Year which went to the Peugeot RCZ from En Mohammad Azlan Abdullah, COO of NSTP