Opel Insignia Voted 2009 European Car of the Year by One Point
The Opel/Vauxhall Insignia has been chosen as the 2009 European Car of the year, beating out Ford’s all new Fiesta by a single point. The result is the closest such in the past eight years, when the Ford Mondeo was beaten by the Alfa Romeo 147. The Insignia received 20 first place votes and 321points from the jury of automotive writers, while the Fiesta garnered 19 votes and 320 points. Volkswagen’s new Golf ran third with 223 points, while the Citroen C5, Alfa Romeo MiTo, and Skoda Superb were fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.
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Check out the full press release below.
Insignia is Car of The Year 2009
The Insignia, the all-new family car from Vauxhall/Opel, has been voted 2009 Car of the Year – by the narrowest possible margin. The Insignia polled an impressive 321 votes to beat this year’s other favoured contender, the Ford Fiesta, by a solitary point. The Volkwsagen Golf, on 223 points, was third.
“This is the closest COTY competition for years,” comments Ray Hutton, president of the 59-strong jury of senior motoring journalists drawn from 23 European countries. “Car of the Year has often been decided narrowly, but it is eight years since another Ford, the Mondeo, was beaten by a single point by Alfa Romeo’s 147.” To underscore the closeness of the 46-year-old competition, the Vauxhall/Opel Insignia received most votes from 20 of the international jurors, while the Fiesta was placed first by 19 of them.
“We are delighted to be able to deliver good news at such a tough time,” says Steve Cropley, editor-in-chief of Autocar, COTY’s British-based sponsoring magazine, “The market’s the toughest we’ve seen for 20 years, but nothing alters the fact that the Insignia is a great car. However, this result is undoubtedly something of an upset. The Ford Fiesta seemed to many a winning contender. But in the end, the Insignia deserved to triumph and it did.”
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 jury is made up of 59 senior motoring journalists from 23 countries. Their 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.
Autocar is one of seven leading publications from around Europe which organise the COTY contest. Each publication takes it in turn to organise the vote, publicise and promote the contest and hold the prize-giving ceremony.
The jury is completely independent of the Organising Committee in matters connected with the award itself, the selection of eligible cars and the voting.
UK members of the Car Of The Year Jury
STEVE CROPLEY AUTOCAR
ANDREW ENGLISH DAILY TELEGRAPH
RAY HUTTON SUNDAY TIMES
PAUL HORRELL TOP GEAR MAGAZINE
JOHN SIMISTER THE INDEPENDENT
PHIL MCNAMARA CAR
COTY PREVIOUS WINNERS
2008 FIAT 500
2007 FORD S-MAX
2006 RENAULT CLIO
2005 TOYOTA PRIUS
2004 FIAT PANDA
2003 RENAULT MEGANE
2002 PEUGEOT 307
2001 ALFA ROMEO 147
2000 TOYOTA YARIS
1999 FORD FOCUS
1998 ALFA ROMEO 156
1997 RENAULT MEGANE SCENIC
1996 FIAT BRAVO / BRAVA
1995 FIAT PUNTO
Comments
mo
wow, the car must be good then. hopefully we will get it here soon.
Ducati Minor
I have not read any reviews for this car. It probably is a wonderful saloon. I can only judge what I saw: a bland Camry knockoff...which is bland to even think about. I guess I can see it work. The Malibu is dull, but outstanding as a mobile appliance. Perhaps the Insignia can work.
SaturnBob
This car is the replacement for the Opel Vectra, aka the Saturn Aura here in the States. It was originally set to come over as a Saturn in 2010 but will probably never make it. Saturn President Jill Lajdziak wrote on www.imsaturn.com that Saturn will be maintaining a 5 year life on all models. As the Aura started in 2007, IF we see the Insignia here in the US, it will not be until 2012. Ditto with the newly redesigned Opel Astra, which debuted this year.
That is, if GM and Saturn are not irreparably harmed with this financial mess going on. Saturn is the only GM brand whose current line-up is almost entirely based upon Opel models (sans Outlook and SKY).
useless factoid: The Saturn SKY debuted in 2004 at the Frankfurt Auto Show to celebrate Vauxhall's 100th anniversary. A redesign of the 2002 Solstice concept, the original U.K. designed Vauxhall VX Lightning Concept came to fruition with all but the trademark Vauxhall nose and began production in Wilmington, DE, USA in 2005 in the same factory alongside to the Solstice. (For those of you Stateside, Vauxhall is the U.K. sister of Opel GmbH).
Mena
Which would explain why they made an Opel GT which is the Saturn Sky Redline.
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