German Car Zone

Source: VW Polo is Car of the Year 2010 - Autocar.co.uk

The VW Polo is the Car of the Year 2010.

The supermini narrowly edged the Toyota iQ in the final voting, earning 347 points over 337.

The Polo received 59 scoring votes in total from the 59-strong judging panel, including 25 selections as the number one car. In contrast the iQ received 58 votes, with 20 selections as the best car.

The result is determined from a list of 33 new cars which are voted on by European car journalists.

A shortlist of seven cars is then determined, with 59 European judges making their selection. Each judge has 25 points to allocate as they see fit, although at least five contenders must receive points, and the chosen winner must receive more points than the runners-up.

Autocar's editor-in-chief Steve Cropley is one of the judges, and voted the Toyota iQ as his personal favourite, allocating it eight points. He also gave the Mercedes E-class five points, Citroen C3 Picasso and Peugeot 3008 three points each and the Skoda Yeti, Vauxhall Astra and VW Polo two points each.

The full result is below.

Click on the link to see the latest reviews, news and video of each car from autocar.co.uk:

1. Volkswagen Polo 347 points, 59 votes, 25 vote wins

2. Toyota iQ 337 points, 58 votes, 20 vote wins

3. Opel/Vauxhall Astra 221 points, 55 votes, 5 vote wins

4. Skoda Yeti 158 points, 54 votes, 4 vote wins

5. Mercedes-Benz E-class 155 points, 48 votes, 2 wins

6. Peugeot 3008 144 points, 49 votes, 2 vote wins

7. Citroen C3 Picasso 113 points, 47 votes, 1 win

A premium super-mini. The winning formula for the EuroCOTY....

I understand that the current generation Polo is a huge step up compared to the previous.

The New Polo is Car of the Year

International jury – 59 members from 23 European countries

International customers – 130,000 Polos already ordered worldwide

Press Release:

Wolfsburg/Madrid, 01 December 2009 – The new Polo is Car of the Year 2010: Today the Car of the Year jury chose the Volkswagen as number 1; this is the crowning achievement of an extraordinary year for the new Polo.

“The new Polo stands for German engineering craftsmanship and superior cutting edge technology. At the same time it is a fresh, youthful and cosmopolitan car! The fifth generation Polo was designed for address customer expectations with even greater uncompromising alignment. That is why we are naturally very pleased to see our efforts validated in the form of this award,” says Professor Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management, Volkswagen Group.

Selection as Car of the Year is one of the oldest and most esteemed awards in Europe. The best of all new car introductions have been awarded annually since 1964. The last time a Volkswagen won was in 1992: Back then the new third generation Golf emerged victoriously over the Opel Astra and Citroën ZX. In today’s competition, 59 jurors from 23 European countries cast their votes. The new Polo won with 347 points, outpacing the Toyota IQ.

Hakan Matson, president of the jury, had this to say at the award ceremony in Madrid: “It was the Polo’s comprehensive safety equipment and its advanced range of engines that impressed us the most. On the Polo BlueMotion Volkswagen was also able to add a very fuel-efficient yet affordable car to its car
programme.”

The Polo’s selection as Car of the Year 2010 is the crowning achievement of an extraordinary year for the new Polo after already being named Best Car 2009 by “auto motor sport” magazine and winning the Grüne (“Green”) and the Goldene Lenkrad (“Golden Steering Wheel”) awards by publisher Springer Verlag - as well as the Auto Trophy by “Autozeitung” just a few days ago.

Not only was the award jury impressed by the new Polo. Since its market launch in May of this year, Volkswagen has received over 130,000 orders for the new benchmark car of the compact class. The Polo is available as a dynamic 3-door and comfortable 5-door in Germany. As the Polo BlueMotion, just 3.3 litre fuel consumption makes it the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly iveseater in the world.

Source: VW-Media