Middle East Motor Awards 2010 nominations

Comments

1. 
   who choosed the nomination ????

   if avalon can be there why not mazda6 ?
   that car won number of north american awards , i guess it deservers at least nomination if can have accord and avalon

2. Author
   12 judges. We all sent in choices, but I can’t control what others choose. The cars which are most chosen made the list. Best I could do was get the Type-R added to the final list.

3. 
   FYI, Mazda CX9 is nominated in the midsize SUV category, as for the mazda6 , they didnt have any ‘2010’ model and have directly launched the 2011 mazda6 , therefore it isnt eligible for a 2010 award.

   No doubt its a wonderful car and you will see it in the 2011 nominations !

   – MEMA Organizing Commitee

4. Author
   ^Thanks for the reply, Mohd.

5. 
   Some of the nominations are unbelievably bad. Makes you wonder who the hell is actually participating in this.. A sad attempt at copying ECOTY…

   M6? The one that just went out of production? So you’re nominating used cars? DTS? Are you kidding me?

   All the SUV segments are particularly bad.

6. Author
   I personally only nominated cars that I’d only driven, so that didn’t amount to much. However, cars which have had at least minor changes for 2010 have been added, so not every car you’d expect is there. And I see nothing wrong with at least the SUV nominations. Pretty much everything and everyone is represented.

   There are some cars I wouldn’t nominate. But maybe now you know why I keep harping on magazines.

7. 
   But when did accord 2010 and avalon 2010 was released , they are essentially same for more than 3 years in row , i guess only NISSAN altima with facelift for 2010 is available? and also Maxima is actually 2009 model not 2010..
   i am not buying the idea, how ur calculating the year ! i can pint point at least 10 cars at of ur list that are not actually 2010 model , there has to be difference between average buyer and automotive industry experts , if dealer can sell decade old maxima as new model that’s understood for normal users , hence actually there is no reseaerch you guys did in nomination just personal favourites made their way

   Kia Soul can be nominated but not “2010” read 2010 Mazda3 and Honda Civic in compact category.

   I boycott in protest ! this is not fair treatment with all cars and looks like Nissan is getting the all backing for some reasons

8. 
   generally nomination and awards happen for pervious year for any thing weather movies or cars.
   Because by that time people have enough data to make the judgement on fact and figures.

   But it seems your going to do judgment on just couple of months data…lolz that defy your logic for 2010 , i guess next year you will do judgment in one year 2012 , because middle east wants to remain one year ahead on every thing :p…

   lolz common sense…any ways carry on with awards does not matter because ground reality and owners prespective has nothing to do with it 🙂

9. 
   FYI, its not a UAE award, it covers the whole of the Middle East and for those who dont know..the DTS is a very successful vehicle in Saudi and Bahrain and thats from where it has been nominated.

   The BMW M6..call BMW regional and get the details on its updates for the 2010 model and it will answer your questions.

   As for the paricipants…Lets just keep the job for the experts.

   – MEMA Organizing Commitee

10. 
    But none of the proper English publications are represented, only some half-arsed websites and magazines.

    Now that I see where this is going, I think I know why they don’t want to be involved…

11. 
    Although we do not need to justify our stance…
    We would recommend that you view the profiles of the Jury members before passing on your valuable comments.

    Incase you have any specific ‘english’ publication in mind…please feel free to give them a call and ask them their reasons for not being invloved, you will be enlightened by their response..better, wait and watch all those ‘english’ puclications join the JURY for the 2011 edition..you will be plesantly surprised.

    Watch this space !

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

12. Author
    The publications not involved are the ones who have their own awards ceremonies, and don’t want to lose that source of advertising income. Whatever Sharjah’s show is, it will be less biased than magazines that make the BMW X6 (CAR ME) and the Audi A6 Avant (Autocar ME) their cars of the year, especially since 12 different judges with different interests are involved.

13. Author
    Kaiz, Mohd already said that cars from 2011 were left out, so 2010 models definitely is the right year to be judging. The awards will be given out in October. It isn’t the judge’s fault that no one drove any Mazdas and therefore didn’t nominate (too) many. You know the dealer’s attitude. Neither the 2009 Mazda6 Ultra nor the 2011 Mazda6 qualify.

14. 
    We both know which publications arent involved and why (as you rightly mentioned)

    But they have now started to realise that their own awards are losing the heat as the whole industry is looking upto the MEMAs and are themselves proposing it as the ULTIMATE RECOGNITION ! wait and watch them join as well ! as they say…if you cant beat them..join them !

    FYI, Hyundai has proposed to take all the JURY members to KOREA next year so that all the Judges can see how the cars are being made..Merc regional is flying down senior executives from Germany to attend the awards ! and much more is happening behind the scenes !

    The MEMAs are shaking the industry ..in a positive way of course!..as it is the only independent award of its kind and certainly the most prestigious and the most credible as well.

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

15. 
    I am pleased to inform that Mr. Mirza Hatk – Editor in Chief of TORQUE Magazine from JORDON will be joing our Jury this year !!! so thats 13 JUDGES from 8 COUNTRIES !

    Plus we have the confirmation from the likes of Mr. Nabil Baadrani (Gulf Autos) + Mr. Bassan Kronfli (EVO mag) to be a part of the panel for 2011..they coudnt be this year as they had prior commitments.

    And for those who dont know who these people or the current members are and consider them as ‘half arsed’ ..

    With all due respect you shouldnt be on this debate … check your facts my friend.

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

16. 
    Though two of my favourites are missed, along with Kaiz’s Mazda6U, I guess the nominees cannot be controlled when you have jurors choosing them, each with a different reason.

    There is definitely a preponderance of Nissan cars, probably a coincidence or do they actually make award-worthy cars? 🙂

17. Author
    ^Can’t argue that the Nissans on there are pretty good cars. No Xtrails or Sunnys there. The Armada is discontinued, but it was mildly updated for 2010.

18. 
    Nissan does have a pretty good range of vehicles and they are quite popular too, especially SUVs…if sunny has a new 2011 model…it will hopefully be there next year in a new category named ‘best small saloon’.

    as for the jurors controlling the list..it is absolutely essential, as they know which car is actually eligible and which one isnt…if you take the nominations directly from the car manufacturing companies, which is the case with the ‘english magazines’ … they will nominate the whole range even if the model is of 2008 !

    As i said earlier…let the experts do their jobs.

    – – MEMA Organizing Commitee

19. 
    How is the Lincoln MKZ there in the luxury car category instead of the premium luxury car category ??
    and the jaguar XJ is in the same range as a bmw 7 series and an S-class .
    And u call yourselves as experts ?

20. Author
    ^Hahaha! Comedian. They are perfectly fine.

21. 
    Lieber Fahrer, thank you for your very ‘competent’ comment … before talking about any ‘half-arsed websites and magazines’ you should know what you are talking about. Unless you work in the motoring media, I believe you will not have any idea on how motoring media works, functions and operates in the Middle East region. Most of your ‘proper English publications’ use (copy/past or translate) up to 90% of their content from their ‘parent-magazine’ in the UK, USA or Germany. Most of those ‘proper’ article have nothing to do with the situation in the Middle East (dealer situation, climate condition, local and regional specs, locally-assembled cars like in Egypt, and many many more) … if you think that you or your ‘proper magazines’ would fit better into the award jury, then you & your ‘proper magazines’ should apply to join the award and I am sure the award organizer will do the right thing …
    besides, who said that ‘2010’ Awards do not allow 2 or 3 year old cars to participate? 2010 means than ANY current car build in 2010 car particpate .. doesn’t matter if the car is 1, 2 or 3 years old … since you are using a German nickname (Fahrer) you should just go and check the German awards (Goldenes Lenkrad, ams, etc.) …
    mit freundlichem Gruss,
    Mohamed

22. 
    I am sorry to dissapoint you vivek..hopefully you can join our jury next year and tell all the Editor in Chiefs that they all should consult you before setting the nominations.

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

23. 
    Finally some intelligent argument courtesy of our friend Mr. Mohamed , instead of just baseless criticism by the ‘not so well informed indiviuals’ .

    Constructive feedback – Welcome anytime.
    Baseless accusations – Check your fact books.

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

24. 
    After viewing the nominations, I have two questions to ask:

    1- How is BMW X1 considered mid size when it is clearly a compact? (What would the new X3 be considered when it debuts next year?)

    2- How can the hard top version of Maserati’s coupe be considered a premium sports car while the convertible version be considerd an exotic?

25. Author
    ^Good question.

    1- It’d seem everything midsize and smaller is put in the Midsize SUV category. In a way, it’s ok, considering many of them overlap in price and size. Like how a “compact” RAV4 is more spacious than a “midsize” Fortuner.

    2- I was told beforehand that cars can overlap in categories. So a Honda Type-R could just as easily been under the sports car category too.

26. 
    Mashfique knows it all !

    – – MEMA Organizing Commitee

27. 
    i realize there is another “vivek” in here..so gon’ use my nickname alongwith my name 😀

    well..probably i’m the only one among the readers who did not find so many faults with the list..neithr was it biased i feel..every car mentioned in there shine in one aspect or the other compared to the rest of lot left out..and that does not mean that those cars which did not get nominated are bad; probably they have only been edged out by a very narrow margin!!..so take it easy guys, no hard feelings :)..however, one exception that caught my eye was the Altima SR and Maxima nominated together..I believe the SR is the 3.5L variant (if there is a 2.5 SR, shoot me for not being updated :P)..and the Maxima is nothing but essentially a 3.5L rebodied Altima with more luxury, more beauty and more power..Indeed, every bit of Maxima deserves to be here; but I guess there were propositions better than the Altima V6; Galant, Lumina, Mondeo and Safrane for an instance..Since you say Mazda 6 did not have a 2010 model, i am not including that here..well, jus an amateur’s doubt :)..

28. Author
    ^Hey Vivz, the cars you mentioned were not updated for 2010. Also, the Altima and Maxima are different enough cars, not like say, an Explorer and a Mountaineer.

29. 
    hmmmmmm stil not clear with logic for including so called 2010 models… Award is going to happen in october nomination have been anouced today , the selection for nomination begin 3 months back.
    So actually u guys had window of only 3 months to choose the cars , now you say that in 2011 you will ignore models that were dubbed as 2010 models because awards already happened….
    so lets assume for example Ford launches new mondeo in november dubbed as 2010 model
    and it is great car inside out , but you guys will not pick it for year 2011 awards because ,
    it is not 2011 model , so esentially ur telling me
    only cars launched from jan-april is considered for award rest are auto elmilinated because of launch dates…so you want manfatures to release in this little window only

    This is unfair and this is common mans logic ,
    just think

30. Author
    ^dude, the Mazda 6 Ultra is out no matter what. Deal with it 🙂 Going into the specifics of model years will take too much time, but this is how it’s done everywhere. Most 2010 models came out in the second half of 2009. Nominations don’t mean anything. The 2010 winner will be decided near the end of 2010, after a scoring and elimination process. If some company wants to launch a model in November 2010 and call it a 2010 model, then they are effing morons.

31. Author
    ^^Also, even if someone nominated the Mazda 6 Ultra, and no one else did, it gets eliminated early simply because a limited number of cars with the most votes get on the initial list. I nominated the Honda Civic 5-door, but it didn’t make the final list.

32. 
    ^dude , its not about M6U .
    i want to understand the complex logic 😛 of modeling and nomination 😛 😛 🙂

    and my suggestion to MEMA
    have one more category …Consumer Choice Awards
    and have general public voting on it…. 🙂

33. 
    the sucess depends how much public you are able to involve , rather saying every time auto expert auto experts look how many time you have used it in comments :P…
    Public is Public you have to take care of them 🙂

34. 
    If a car manufacture launches a car in the second half of, say, 2010, then their almost completely bound to (99.9% possibility) tag it as a 2011 model. Car manufacturers usually give the following year’s Model Year to a car that has been launched 4-5 months into the current year.

35. Author
    I am already doing public service, considering I don’t get paid for work on this site, haha. This awards thing is not under my control, but that consumer’s choice idea might be something to consider for the future.

36. Author
    The actual awards cannot be based on public opinions though, as you can see from vivek’s (part 1) comments. He is completely sure a Jag XJ does not compete with an S-Class.

37. 
    High expectations do always cause criticism. It’s fair to say that this Middle East Award is a sincere attempt that will be enhanced from year to year to become a prestigious award in the world auto business involving the Middle East. In otherwords, this is only a starting point, and as such not completely error free. Much to its credit, though, it is independent and not biased.

38. 
    lolzzzzzzzzz regardless of industry , why generally experts think that public is stupid :P…
    experts must have consider its for public they are doing and public must like it 🙂
    any ways good luck to them , if VVIP pass for the event then i will come 😀

39. Author
    ^Ok, I will take the opinion of vivek (part 1) and everyone else. I’ll let you sort through the 1 million public nominations. Your payment will be a VVIP pass to meet Sulayem.

40. 
    err .. 2011 Jaguar XJ is suppose to compete with the 7 series , S-class and the A8 !
    hw could u not know that !
    it’s priced in the same category too ..

41. 
    sureeeeeeeeeee Mash, that is easy job for me….
    Trust me ,i am ready to do it ! its as simple is writing some 200 max line of code for me…and one small database 🙂 and i will give u result in 2 mins 🙂 but u remember ur promise are we in deal ???

42. 
    chevy cruze in the saloon car category..arent others in a higher engine as well as price bracket? shouldnt there be a seperate category for cars like the cruze, civic etc?

43. 
    like Mr. Mohamed from the MEMA Organisation team said. let the EXPERTS do their work! it is us, the experts, who are testing over 100-150 cars a year, then we go to our offices, sit down and wrtite the articles and test-drives which the ‘public / readers’ read at home when they click our magazines or websites … so, rest assured: we KNOW EXACTLY what we are doing here!!! in Arabic there is a saying which states: Leave the bread to the baker, as only he can bake good bread! for our German friend, the Fahrer, there is also a German saying / sprichwort which says: Schuster bleib bei deinen Leisten … I am sure everybody will agree with me … thanx

44. Author
    @vivek(part 1), I apologise as I misread what you said. I thought you said the XJ does NOT compete with the S-Class and 7-Series. Indeed, as I said, the XJ does compete with the S and 7. I did not make the lists, but I see the reasoning as XJ being more “coupe-like” and more niche, so it was put in the batch with the Aston Rapide, etc. Also, as I said earlier, the categories can overlap. So the MKZ could’ve been in any of 4 categories here. Overlap.

    @kaiz, u can sort the various nomination emails for 300 different cars next year, from people who can’t even spell the names of their own cars. I’ll forward your tool to deal with that.

    @Anil, it’s that overlap thing at play again. The Cruze could’ve been under “compact car” too.

45. 
    Mohammed – you may be the expert in the field of automobiles but i think a little bit of humility an humbleness would do wonders for your future. i am certainly not a part of the expert panel in choosing the cars to be nominated, but if i have a doubt i will state it and ask for clarifications. this is a public forum where anyone can post their questions and queries however ‘dumb’ it may sound to you ‘experts’. thats what you are for..to answer such queries. i guess you could learn a thing or two from mash about humbleness and ‘people-skills’ on how to deal with questions and more importantly…humans..who actually built these cars you are an ‘expert’ on

    mash – thanks a lot for clarifying..could you also pass on your skills to the above mentioned mohammed please? thanks in advance

46. Author
    Mohammed (part 2) hasn’t introduced himself here. He is actually one of the better media people in the region 🙂 . He’s editor of an Egyptian magazine, and I’ve followed his work online the articles he did in English. He critiques the Egyptian car industry (they have one!) on its head, openly dissing many manufacturers for overpriced cars and other faults. Can’t say the same for magazines in Dubai.

47. 
    @Kaiz83:
    I had a severe laughter-attack after reading your amateur-like comments, portraying someone of desperate need for attention, whatever the methods applied!
    For ur information, the Volvo S60 has been produced for 10 years now, and will be replaced next September and guess what?
    A safety innovation from Volvo Car Corporation has once again won a prestigious award: pedestrian detection with full auto brake, first used in the new Volvo S60, receives the Plus X Award in the Innovation category and can now call itself “Best Product of the Year 2010”.
    That was in May 2010, only 5 month shy of being replaced.
    So this car has been on the market for the last 10 years and just got awarded.
    Cars must be driven,and put to the acid test,by automotive experts and definitly not depending on what payed advertorials in non-subject related publications claim!
    Kindly continue snoring, while having your baby bottle in your child’s pushchair till you know what u are talking about in the automotive field. Let your legal guardian do any kind of participation for you, before you make a fool of yourself again!

    @TheFahrer:
    Why don’t you disclose your real identity infront of the participants here, where u work, and who pays you to call any publication “half-arsed” and why are really pissed of, instead flogging a dead horse with your non-convincing arguments?
    Or did you just involuntarily shift to silent mode?

    Or does your

48. 
    Continue @ TheFahrer:
    courage suffer a fatal off-set crash?

49. 
    To all the wonderful people criticizing the MEMAs..we really appreciate your interest and feedback, but we request you to please do your homework and get the facts straight before ‘attacking’ the organisers or the Jury members, with all due respect, they really know better what to do.

    It doesn’t reflect good on your part to just blow out any random thought of yours without any solid data backing it.

    The organisers and the Jury have put in a lot of efforts and hard work into making the MEMAs as flawless as possible and judging by the feedback from the people who are actually involved in the industry, we would say that the MEMAs are on the right track.

    Having said that, we wouldn’t suggest that it has reached a level where it doesn’t need to improve further,as we regard growth and progress an an ongoing process and will continue to further streamline and regulate the processes and the overall operations as and when required.

    We all have our right to voice our opinions, but let your opinions be of substance so that they hold some value for all concerned.

    @ Al Hussein – Relax, misinformed people need to be enlightened but in a more subtle manner may i suggest, but for some people your approach might be necessary, thanks for the support !

    @ Anil – Apologies if anything i said may have sound rude to you, just trying to help others understand the fundamentals better.

    @ Kaiz – My friend, if you think you can run it better than we do, by all means get in touch with us..we might have a job for you in store and as for the public votings,there will be a consumers choice award next year hopefully, as soon as we set out the parameters for it.

    @ Mash – Your website is dong a great job !

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

50. 
    @ Anil – My friend it is our humility and humbleness that we are adressing issues directly and even taking unwelcoming and unnecessary feedback from alot of people who dont even know what they are talking about and with whom, that too on a public forum !

    Name one awards organisor of whichever industry that does this..in my knowledge no one, the reason being they have things to hide and we dont, we believe in total transparency, thats what makes the MEMAs so credible and sought after.

    I am sure alot of people will agree with me.

    – MEMA Organizing Commitee

51. 
    I will be looking forward for the results at the end of the day.

    Since it is evaluated by experts will help in selecting my next buy.

52. 
    I found this very interesting and theres not long to go now! Will you be publishing the results on here?