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The best cars in Russia in 2011 according to the Runet users

Author: Alex Freedmann Section: Corporate Litigations

Issue: April 2012, Vol.7, No.4

Tags: Auto market

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The Avto@Mail.Ru project has released its Runet Best Cars-2011 Awards, a national automobile contest, where Internet users choose the best cars from over 300 models in 22 nominations. For this year’s contest, over 710,000 Runet users, in a six week voting spree, picked their choices in each nomination category. This year marked the fifth presentation of the award, which was held on March 13.

Only cars on sale in 2011 in authorized dealership centers in Russia were eligible for participation in the contest. Technical characteristics – such as the length and width, as well as the quality class categories — were used in placing the competing cars into different nominations.

This year, the voting began on January 25 and lasted for six weeks. During this time, about 710,000 Runet users voted over 19mln times, as each respondent could pick three favorite cars in each of the 22 nominations. Another winner was chosen by the management of Avto@Mail.Ru, a popular automobile site with about 6mln visitors a month, according to TNS data in December 2011.

In the Supermini nomination, Chevrolet Spark came top as the ‘Best City Mini-Car in 2011,’ beating such strong rivals as Peugeot 107, KIA Picanto, Fiat Panda and Citroen C1. Accepting the award and commenting Chevrolet Spark’s success, Chevrolet Russia Managing Director Alexander Moinov thanked the Avto@Mail.ru portal and all Runet users for their votes for the car. “Since its introduction to the Chevrolet lineup in 2010, Spark has won several international awards. We are pleased that it has now been recognized in Russia.”

Commenting on this year’s event, Avto@Mail.Ru project director Leonid Aizikovich noted that the Runet Best Cars-2011 Awards has over the years become a key event on the Russian domestic auto market. “Its objectivity and relevance stem not only from the fact that hundreds of thousands of citizens usually take part in choosing the winners, but also by the fact that their choices are not accidental, but founded on facts. "These people are actively interested in market news, reviews of car models and participation in discussions in the Avto@Mail.Ru forum. Whilst voting, they rely on their well-formed and well-reasoned opinions,” he added. “The results of the awards contest are an indicator of Russian’s preferences and for the winners is a true sign of quality and recognition from the mainstream.”