Honda CR-V Wins 2017 Thailand Car Of The Year

The Honda CR-V was recently crowned the 2017 Thailand Car of the Year in late-March, as the 2018 Bangkok International Motor Show draws to a close.

Organised by the Thai Automotive Journalists Association (TAJA), the panel of judges consisted of Thai automotive journalists from various publications. The award is limited only to vehicles assembled in Thailand, launched between 1-October 2016 and 30-September 2017.

The CR-V garnered 228 points, giving it a comfortable margin of victory of second and third placed finalists the Toyota Yaris Ativ (192 points), and BMW 5 Series (157 points).

The award, in its current format, is now in its third year running and past winners include the Mazda CX-3 and Ford Everest.

The other finalists were the Honda Civic Hatchback (155 points), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (150), Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe (132), and Nissan Note (130).

It is important to note that the Thailand market CR-V is different from the ones sold in Malaysia. The Thai-market CR-V misses out on the Honda Sensing suite of advanced driving assistance systems but adds third-row seats, which from our experience, is only suitable for children.

The powertrain is also different. In Malaysia, the powertrain line-up consists of a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol and a 1.5-litre turbocharged direct injected petrol engine, both paired to a CVT-type automatic. All-wheel drive is only available on the 1.5-litre turbo.

Meanwhile, the Thais get either a 2.4-litre naturally aspirated petrol paired to a CVT or a 1.6-litre turbodiesel paired to a 9-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is available for either variants.