OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2016. The 2015 Ford F-150 was voted Readers’ Car of the Year by readers of UAE’s 7DAYS. The Ford F-150 beat nine other vehicles, including Mercedes AMG C63 S, Toyota Camry and Honda Pilot, to take top honors.

According to 7DAYS, nearly 3,000 votes were cast this year by readers – the highest ever in the award’s history. The cars were among 10 models launched in the UAE between December 1, 2014 and November 30, 2015 that formed the shortlist for 7DAYS Car of the Year. The finalists for the annual competition were revealed last month and readers of 7DAYS and visitors to 7DAYS.ae were asked to vote for their favorite.

Ford Middle East and Africa’s Marketing, Sales and Services Vice President - Kalyana Sivagnanam was presented with the award by 7DAYS CEO Mark Rix.

“The F-150 has been the best-selling truck in the world for 38 years. Last year, Ford raised the bar and we changed this truck completely, both inside and outside. This is the only truck in the world that has an all-aluminum body and what that means for the customer is better handling and better payload. I’m not surprised it has been voted the best car of 2015,” said Sivagnanam.

The shortlist for 7DAYS’s Car of the Year award was chosen from dozens of nominations sent in by both 7DAYS readers and members of the UAE automotive industry. 7DAYS’ panel of judges then rated the cars for their value for the money, practicality, design, performance and innovation based on their segment. The 10 with the highest scores were then put to a public vote.

“The 7DAYS Car of the Year is not picked by motoring journalists or industry insiders like many awards but the most important people of them all – the consumer,” said Rix. “We’d like to congratulate Ford on their success and look forward to seeing the models hitting the UAE’s roads over the coming year that could be vying for the 7DAYS Car of the Year crown in 12 months’ time.”