Volkswagen Polo Named European Car Of The Year 2010

DB2009AU00249
Dec 1, 2009
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BEATING OUT A FIELD of over 30 rival cars, the Volkswagen Polo 5 has been voted Europe's Car of the Year - the first victory for VW in 18 years.

The Polo received points from each of the jury's 59 motoring journalists from 23 European countries. Twenty-five of the judges chose it as their favourite, leading to a grand total of 347 points.

 

"The Polo convinced most of all thanks to its complete safety package and its range of modern engines," jury president Hakan Matson said.

 

In a race that demonstrated Europe's shift toward small cars and greater fuel efficiency, the little Volkswagen beat the ultra-small Toyota iQ by just 10 points.

The Opel/Vauxhall Astra hatch - discontinued in the Australian market - took third place honours. 

DB2009AU00254

The new Polo is scheduled to arrive in Australia in the first half of next year. Specific dates, local pricing and engine options have not yet been revealed.

In Europe, engine options include 1.2 and 1.4 litre petrol engines, and a turbocharged 1.2 litre TSI petrol engine.  A new 1.6 litre TDI common rail diesel engine is also offered.

Outside the top three, the other four finalists were the Citroen C3 Picasso, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Peugeot 3008 and the Skoda Yeti - all four of which either will be soon or are available in Australia right now.

Last year's winner was the Opel Insignia, also sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Insignia and the US as the Buick Regal. There are no plans to offer the Insignia in Australia.


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Comments

  • Luke Skywalker [reply]
    8 months ago 0 points
    This really does show that Europe is moving even FURTHER to smaller cars (they were pretty much there already anyway!). Aus has a long, long way to go in following that trend and we'll probably never get there! Well done to VW though. The current Polo GTI is a belter and the new one will be even better I'm sure
  • Morris [reply]
    8 months ago 0 points
    LS, that's because what works there doesn't always work in other countries such as Australia. Though smaller cars will become more popular in urban areas, due to the large travelling distances across Australia, there will always be a market for larger cars (ie Falcon & Commodore).
  • paddy [reply]
    8 months ago 0 points
    So that's VW Polo taking out the European COTY.

    America it's Ford Fusion for cars, Outback for SUV and F150 for ute.

    Looking good, the judges must have found some brains and realised jap hybrids go nowhere =)
  • Jimmy [reply]
    8 months ago 0 points
    Yes, Europeans are fans of small cars more out of necessity than choice. Go to any major European city and the lack of space for cars is glaringly obvious, add to this the cost of fuel and smaller cars with smaller more efficient engines make so much sense.

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