It’s a hat-trick of COTYs for the Mk7 Volkswagen Golf. After winning this year’s European Car of the Year and World Car of the Year awards, the benchmark C-segment Euro hatch has picked up its third major international car trophy – the Car of the Year Japan award.
What’s more significant is that the Volkswagen Golf becomes the first ever non-Japanese car to win Japan Car of the Year in the awards’ 34-year history.
In a contest that was expected to see the latest Golf trade blows with the new Honda Fit (Jazz in Malaysia) for honours, the Golf polled strongly from the outset and ended up amassing 504 votes from the 60 jurors in attendance. The versatile Fit/Jazz came in second with 373 votes and the Volvo V40 placed third with 167.
“This is a very special award for us in so many ways. Firstly, our Golf 7 has become the first ever imported car to win Japan’s COTY award, and we achieved this in our 60th year since Volkswagen imports started into Japan,” commented Shigeru Shoji, president of Volkswagen Japan.
In three new minor awards introduced this year, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) picked up the ‘Innovation Award,’ the Mazda Atenza (new Mazda6) won the ‘Emotional Award’ and the jointly developed Suzuki Spacia/Mazda Flair Wagon minicars captured the ‘Small Mobility Award.’ The ‘Special Achievement Award’ went to the Daihatsu Move for its front seat lift design, created to assist senior citizens and the disabled.
Read our review of the Mk7 Golf TSI and Mk7 Golf GTI.
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nobody cares about this shyt…
You see, even Japs, after years of car making, now admit defeat to such advance technology and efficient car and yet its built for the masses!!
VW Golf RULES (the C-segment) !! PEOPLES CAR !!
Btw, why don’t VGM offer those nicer rims here? :)
Pure lies. Japanese also cannot be trusted like how they lied to the world about the recent Fuku nuclear leak. In this car, I am sure they paid undertable to get this award. How to win COTY when the DSG kaput all the time. Its no secret. Even VW Germany confess in black and white their DSG is defective and cannot handle Asian weather and Asian traffic jams.
So, even after confessing also, they can win COTY, very suspicious. Or maybe Japan cooling country and no DSG problems. Well come to Malaysia and see every other DSG breaking down!
Agreed on the title.
MK7 is one of the most fun I’ve driven, especially for the price.
Unfortunately it’s expensive here, else you’ll definitely see more Golf than any other hatch.
Do you need to be such a d*ck, stereotyping the Japanese as liar by using the Fukushima tragedy?
Total nonsense.
JUST FOR THE RECORD TO ALL U VW/DSG BASHERS OUT THERE:
1)Yes the DSG IS a problem to VW cars
But it is NOT A MAJOR problem until u cannot freaking drive or have to repair for weeks.
ITS JUST A MERE SOFTWARE UPDATE to the MECHATRONICS System which takes max half a day to resolve.
SO PLEASE…. Don’t just read other forums and start bashing until you have actually owned a VW.
EVEN BMW’s and MERC’s / TOYOTAs ETC have their fair share of shit.
Not true. Not software. Its hardware. You are one big liar VW salesman. Please dont mislead people.
Yes Mahathir Gen 2, spend 200k but spend your entire annual leave in the service centre replacing your dsg. Each time 3 weeks wait
Hassan, which car company you work for , Naza or Sime Darby? Ha, ha, ha. You seem to be seriously intent on discrediting VW.
I am a VW owner. 2013 Passat. My car DSG have break down 4 times already. If you say software can solve it, why the extra 3 times car breakdown.
Betul ke software? Smells so fishy. VW salesman on high gear spurting wrong info online.
I see facebook VW Malaysia all the DSG problem also, repeat cases. All say DSG replaced but still break down, juddering, lose power.
You don’t know VW cars can be softmoded to get 5 sec in century sprint?
j/k lelelelelel
“Even VW Germany confess in black and white their DSG is defective and cannot handle Asian weather and Asian traffic jams.”
Where they confess this (sources please)?
As far as I know, they confessed that a CERTAIN BATCH of 7-speed DSG gearboxes HAD problems?
The MK7 Golf btw is available as a manual car and with 6-speed DSG too, which never had any problems handling “Asian weather and Asian traffic jams”… ;)
I think readers here must read previous post and their comments and they will stay away from VW far far away. VW Germany already admit on May 08 2013, all their DSG boxes, whether its 2013 or earlier years strictly cannot handle 1) Hot Asian Climate 2) Asian traffic jams otherwise prone to non stop breakdowns. This is an admission in black and white.
For existing owners, there is no way around it. Even the recent global mass recalls cannot sort this problem out. They will just put in a new DSG box when they recall but ALL the DSG boxes by Borg Warner are inherently defective. And yes even 2013 DSG boxes are ALL affected.
VW fansboys will sayneverything will be okey but do you still want to trust a car company who denied for years there was nothing wrong with their DSG until the China government came down hard on them?
So, the DSG cars should not have been sold in Malaysia in the first place. You can use this car in Europe or Japan where it is now COTY but a big NO in Malaysia. Unless you use the car ONLY at night (when it is cooling) and there is NO traffic jam. Truly Knight Rider (KITT)
Hassan, you are wrong. It is a software problem plus an oil change issue.
Also, you are wrong that for existing car owners, there’s no way around it. There is. I know as I am a 2010 VW Golf owner -the units that are supposedly affected. What they do is they either change or recalibrate the software. After that, the problem is resolved.
As for the oil issue, hotter weather cars need to change from fully synthetic or semi to mineral and the issue is solved.
These issues are not just VW specific, related issues have also taken place on Toyota’s, BMW’s and Mercs before. Therefore we cannot generalise thats only VW’s have it.
Hey Hassan…
Ive seen similar posts like yours in other forums.
U must really be a dedicated VW basher and/or a Bmw fan boy…. lol.
DSG is also known as kaki breakdown. Go to facebook and read yourself. And customers have to wait 3 months to get anything fixed especially normal parts. See facebook, all fuming mad. And don’t get excited with their warranty. Its ONLY 2 years. 3 years is insurance based. That takes months. Adjuster must come and see, approval takes weeks, and most of the time, not covered. Don’t believe? Go to facebook and see yourself. VW customers are fuming mad. Even to service the car also must make appointment few weeks beforehand. And when you cross over the required mileage because you waiting weeks for your appointment. VW will tell you, sorry, cannot claim warranty. Because you have crossed over the service interval mileage. You tell them but my appointment given 4 weeks later, they tell you, you should plan in advance. So, their DSG cars can only drive at night.
Facebook comments are from competitors, not VW owners. It has been exposed already!
Besides why only VW gets a lot of bashing? Because it outsold Peugeot 2-1 and Ford 3-1 in Malaysia. Get the drift?
Ditto ….
Where? Where? Give the link Mr VW salesman!
admit “defeat” lol please, their sales numbers are FAR from being defeated and winning an award may increase sales by a few small percent, it would be incredibly st*pid to say that all of the sales relied on 1 award. Also this overrated junk is overpriced everywhere, not just here.
Take a look at the expression of the guy standing beside the car. He was sobbing! He was nagging why it is not a Fit!
Wow
Many DSG
Such problematic
So failure
Much stupid
Wow
You mean the Jazz?
Yes even the Japanese feels their Honda is junk.
You say Nobody cares? Wrong my friend! Many in Malaysia cares because the Japanese market is the toughest market in the world for any car maker to enter and win against Japanese makes. You must be really good, because you cannot bribe your way here. This is not the place for that! They will destroy you if you try to bribe them! I lived there for 20 years. I know how tough it is there for foreign companies!
Not easy to win a Car of The Year award in Japan. The Golf would have to at proof to at least 10 years of reliability in the Japanese market to receive this acceptance. Thats why other European or American car companies have difficulty winning.
eh, where is Toyota Vios Ah? Or Japanese call Toyota Yaris. No win medals meh? If malaysia, sure win all medal lah.
nop in malaysia win all medal should b suprima s following by vois.
They dont call it Yaris in japan, they call it Vitz. Why? u sound like Toyota took away ur girlfriend…
Do they have a “Broken Transmission of the Year” award?
Did DSG didn’t failed in Japan…..OMG onli malaysia?
Malaysia are the best proving ground in car reliability.
Go GOLF!!!
VW Golf, often copied..never equalled
that’s the GTI..
A Golf with a problematic 7 speed DSG gearbox also can win COTY Japan. I wonder how do they rate. I guess reliability does not contribute to the overall points/votes for any COTY awards. Anyway, congratulations to VW Golf Mk7.
Its obvious that VW’s success has become the envy and hate of many, especially competitor car salesmen. The Japanese market is the hardest training ground for any car company. Most American and European car makers have failed here since the 1970’s. However if you go to Japan today it is filled with VW’s, Audi’s, BMW’s and Mercedes, especially in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama. This is the true measue of success. Money cant buy this type of success! Its a true long term effort.
hahahaha….gudluck ler buying a vw, i’m currently stuck the whole day at vw sc for them to check & cfirm my clutch pack to be replace, after this need to make another appointment to leave the car for 3 days for them to do the clutch replacement….worse wagen btul, ..better think twice be4 u buy a vw….das autar btul!
Something is damn wrong if you need to leave your car for 3 days.
Yup, after spending almost the whole day waiting for them to check / test/ computer report to cfirm my clutch prob…..after this once the clutch pack arrive (which will take weeks), i will need to leave the car there for 3 days for them to install the new clutch pack on my less than 2 year old Golf….you dont believe? go ask most owners, or better, get urself a vw….then u’ll see how f**k up this they are…damn, i’m regretting getting this Worse Wagen Golf, once they change the clutch pack …..gonna dispose it quickly be4 it kaput again after this 2 years vw warranty period, the rest 3 years warranty under insurance co which will be a hassle to do warranty claim…
Definately will get a Japs car after this, less headache…hampeh Worse Wagen!
dah agak dah… :)
Damn ironic that its COTY but the company is dealing with recalls n stuff. Most recently Nov 14, 2013, they issued a recall on almost 2 million cars.
Hello Toyota has issued recall for more than 5 million cars so far. So has other car companies. So whats the problem?
yup no car company wants to recall 3 million cars worldwide!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2507401/Volkswagen-recall-cars-worldwide-faulty-gearbox-light-fuses.html
let me quote something from the article – “This follows evidence that gearboxes in hot and humid areas such as in China and South-East Asia are susceptible to electrical faults in stop-start traffic.”
“German car giant Volkswagen is to recall tens of thousands of cars in the UK – including those carrying Audi, Skoda and SEAT badges – because of problems with faulty gearboxes which cause a loss of power while driving.”
check it out! the truth is out there…
But its the daily mail… probably the lowest denominator of journalism in the UK bar Daily Sport.Tendency to lack detail and take a liberal dose of creative interpretation of information is rife in this one.
That said, the 1.6m unit recall of DSG equipped cars to CHANGE TRANSMISSION OIL.
The rest of the recalls include 800,000 Tiguans for light fuse failures. 239,000 Amaroks for fuel lines leakages.
The nature of the automotive industry these days and since the inception of the NTHSA in the US makes recalls rather common, most of them in fact voluntarily with small number of complaints.
BMW recalled 176,000 cars for brake pump issues in October
Toyota recalled 885,000 cars for airbag issues in October.
The list goes on… so while it is a concern, it’s just too easy to mouth off big numbers without context.
The article also says:
Chas Hallett, editor in chief of consumer magazine What Car? said: ‘This is a big recall for sheer volumes of cars.
‘But recalls happen all the time in the car industry and they’re always done for safety or reliability issues.’
Mr Hallett added: ‘In the end, it won’t harm Volkswagen and if you’re an owner of one of the cars, as long as you get the work done as soon as possible, there’s nothing to worry about.’
overrated brand. only suckers hail VW a premium brand.
Good car, stupid pricing here.
and not to forget…stupid after sales & a hand grenade dsg gearbox (will explode soon, just a time bomb waiting to “kaboom!!)
Not bad. The Japanese are the worlds most ethnocentric people, so Japan COTY for a foreign company is very shocking indeed, but the again, I’m not so surprised, today’s Japan is hardly the Japan most of us knew and love in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Everything Japan made or contributed to the world in those years were genuinely brilliant. Now they’re just living off their past legacy, in-debt, old and weak.
Anyway, congrats to VW.
after conti ruled in japan market, maybe kimchi start to attack oso soon?
DSG or those dual clutch is really fantastic.
Definitely not CVT if you love performance.
Try it, own it to understand it.
yeah, performance good…and u’ll get to spend lots of time at VW branch….for repairs… ; (
This must have been a manual variant.
My sister has been driving mk7 since launched here, she received her car a couple of weeks after it’s open for booking. never had any dsg issue so far.