Audi A1 wins Car of the Year
Friday 14 January 2011
The Audi A1 has been named What Car? Car of the Year, beating strong competition from the Ford Mondeo and Seat Alhambra.
The announcement was made at an awards ceremony held at the Grosvenor House on London’s Park Lane last night.
Gallery: What Car? Car of the Year winners
Audi’s smallest car to date – which rivals the Mini, Volkswagen Polo and Citroen DS3 – went on sale at the end of 2010 and has already proved incredibly popular with buyers. Last year it won What Car? Reader Award for the most exciting car to be launched in 2010 and it has now gone on to be named Best Supermini.
We praised the A1 for its superb build quality, fuel economy and striking looks: read our full review.
The hugely popular Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 140 Zetec picked up two awards for Best Family Car and Best Estate Car.
The current Mondeo is all things to drivers: spacious, well-equipped, excellent to drive and Ford’s huge network of dealers means buying and servicing one is easy. It underwent significant revisions in 2010 in a bid to maintain its competitiveness versus upmarket rivals such as the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class.
The Jaguar XF was crowned ‘Best Executive Car’ for the fourth year running and was commended for its looks, drivability and pricing. The Volkswagen Golf won Small Family Car for the fifth year running, with What Car? Editor-in-Chief Steve Fowler praising its “unbeatable combination of quality, space, fun and frugality that keeps it ahead of ever-improving rivals”.
For the fifth year in a row the Mercedes S-Class was named Best Luxury Car, with the judges praising it for its lavish equipment levels and its class-leading blend of ride quality and handling.
This year’s Reader Award went to the new Range Rover Evoque, ahead of its on-sale date this summer, while the British-built, all-electric Nissan Leaf was awarded the new Ultra-Low-Carbon-Car Award.
The winners:
Supermini: Audi A1 1.4 TFSI Sport (£15,670)
Small family car: Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI 122 Match 5dr (18,910)
Family car: Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 140 Zetec (£20,445)
Estate car: Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0 TDCi 140 Zetec (£21,695)
MPV: Seat Alhambra 2.0 TDI 140 Ecomotive S (£24,055)
Hot hatch: Renault Megane Renaultsport 250 Cup (£23,650)
Coupe: Audi TT 2.0 TFSI 211 Sport (£27,130)
Open-top: BMW Z4 sDrive23i (£30,405)
Performance car: Ferrari 458 Italia (£169,545)
Crossover: Peugeot 3008 1.6 THP 156 Sport (£19,145)
4×4: Land Rover Discovery 3.0 SDV6XS (£43,345)
Compact executive: BMW 3 Series 320d ES (£26,545)
Executive: Jaguar XF 3.0D V6 Luxury (£35,900)
Luxury car: Mercedes S-Class S350 CDI BLuetec (£59,195)
Ultra-low carbon car: Nissan Leaf (£28,990)
Security: Volkswagen
Safety: Volvo
Car of the Year: Audi A1 1.4 TFSI Sport
By Rhian Angharad Jones
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