Twenty-two cars from the basic to the breathtaking rode off with honours at the inaugural Middle East Car of the Year (MECOTY) awards in Dubai, UAE.

Organised by Custom Events, the ceremony was held at the Meydan Beach Club at the Jumeirah Beach Residences (JBR), on November 20.

Among the winners in the premium sector were MacLaren’s 650S (Best Supercar), the Audi RS7, which won two awards (Car of the Year – Consumer and Best Premium Performance Sedan), the Mercedes Benz S Class, which also won two awards (Car of the Year – Jury and Best Luxury Sedan), the Rolls Royce Wraith (Best Grand Tourer), the Jaguar F Type Coupe (Best Premium Performance Coupe), the Range Rover Sport (Best Premium Performance SUV), the Cadillac Escalade (Best Large Premium SUV), the Porsche Macan (Best Midsize Premium SUV), the Mini Cooper (Best Premium Hatchback) and the BMW sports hybrid i8 (Special Award – The Future).

Other winners included Chevrolet’s Corvette Stingray (Best Performance Coupe), the Alfa Romeo 4C (Best Sports Coupe), the Nissan Tiida (Best Hatchback), the Hyundai Grand Santa Fe (Best Midsize SUV), the Jeep Cherokee (Best Small SUV), the Ford Eco Sport (Best Compact Utility Vehicle [CUV]), the Ford Fusion (Best Large Size Sedan), the Infiniti Q50 (Best Executive Sedan), the Toyota Corolla (Best Midsize Sedan), and the Honda City (Best Small Sedan).

The 14-member jury included writers and editors of car magazines, journals and websites.

The UAE-based Custom Events, which was established this year, hopes the annual MECOTY will become “to become the most coveted award of the regional automotive industry”.