Autocar names Insignia as Car of The Year 2009
The newly launched Vauxhall Insignia has been named Car of the Year 2009 by leading consumer motoring magazine Autocar.
The hotly fought competition which is decided by a 59-strong
jury of senior motoring journalists drawn from 23 European countries
saw Insignia taking the crown by just one point.
In one of the tightest competitions in Autocar’s Car of the Year
46-year history, Insignia polled an impressive 321 points beating this
year’s other favoured contender, the Ford Fiesta, by a solitary point.
The Volkswagen Golf, on 223 points, was third. The Vauxhall/Opel
Insignia received most votes from 20 of the international jurors, while
the Fiesta was placed first by 19 of them.
Points allotted to the
other COTY finalists were VW Golf 223, Citroen C5 198, Alfa Romeo MiTo
148, Skoda Superb 144 and Renault Megane 121. The competition’s first
stage was in October, when jurors chose seven finalists from a field of
37 contenders. To be eligible for COTY, a car must be launched within
the past 12 months and must be available in at least five European
countries.
The COTY independent jury’s objective is to choose the
most outstanding new car to go on sale in the past 12 months. Jurors
vote twice: first to select a short-list of seven from the new cars
launched in Europe, then again to choose the winner.