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The Awards, held annually, seek to recognize and honor outstanding performance by companies in the automotive industry in Asia Pacific.
The awards banquet was officiated by the Minister of International Trade & Industry, Malaysia, Yang Berhormat Dato' Mustapa Mohamed.
"2009 has been very challenging for the automotive industry due to the global financial crisis. Automotive companies across Asia Pacific have had to innovate and reinvent to rise to the challenge and increase their value proposition to stay on top of the game," said Mr. Kavan Mukhtyar, Partner & Head of the Automotive & Transportation Practice, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan.
He added that the recipients of the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Automotive Awards clearly demonstrated outstanding leadership in their own market segments.
"A common factor across all the award recipients is that they have achieved excellence by having a customer-centric approach in an extremely uncertain environment," he added.
Mr. Mukhtyar said that compact cars and environmentally-friendly vehicles are likely to be popular with consumers' in the future. "Automakers' focus for the future will be to develop low cost cars and engines that are fuel efficient and environmentally friendly," he said.
He noted that automakers globally are also investing in electric vehicles. Mr. Mukhtyar said that electric cars would be encouraged by Governments in Asia as they become more environment conscious and find ways to reduce their dependence on petrol and diesel.
Frost & Sullivan estimates that the Asia Pacific region could see some 169,000 electric cars by 2015 as compared to about 1,100 in 2008 as consumers become more environment-conscious.
However, he added that Governments in Asia Pacific may need to review their automotive policies to encourage development of alternate fuel-based vehicles.
Mr. Mukhtyar also predicts that Asian companies will have a bigger role to play once the global automotive market recovers. "There is likely to be more sourcing of components from the Asia Pacific region and companies may also relocate their plants to Asia from Europe or North America," he added.
He added that Governments in the Asia-Pacific region must react fast and be responsive to various changing trends in the automotive industry if they want to attract the next wave of automotive investments.
"There is a need for Governments to have a clear, focused and consistent automotive policy in place to address the upcoming opportunities in the automotive sector," he said.
Mr. Mukhtyar also said that the low cost car segment has become a reality with the unveiling of the Nano by the Tata Group. Mr. Mukhtyar predicts that the low cost cars segment will be one of the fastest growing vehicle segments in the next few years and could spur development and production for other low-cost parts.
Mr. Mukhtyar said that recipients of the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Automotive Awards were identified based on an in-depth research conducted by Frost & Sullivan's analysts. The award categories offered each year are carefully reviewed and evaluated to reflect the current market landscape and include new emerging trends.
The short-listed companies for the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Automotive Awards were evaluated on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth; market share and growth in market share; leadership in product innovation; marketing strategy and business development strategy.
Schaeffler is the silver sponsor for the awards while DiGi is the networking partner. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) and Korea Telematics Business Association (KOTBA) are the supporting organizations. Wall Street Journal Asia is the official newspaper and media partners include Business Today, Asean Autobiz and Automotive Electronics.
Saluting Asia Pacific's best
Frost & Sullivan congratulates all the outstanding recipients of the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Automotive Awards: Please visit frost.com
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 35 offices on six continents.
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