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Victory for Volvo as XC60 crowned Towcar of the Year 2019
Back for the 36th year, the Caravan and Motorhome Club have announced the winners of the 'Towcar of the Year' awards.
Words by: Auto Trader
Published on 2 October 2018 | 0 min read
The Caravan and Motorhome Club have announced the winners of the 2019 'Towcar of the Year' awards.
As part of an effort to make it easier for consumers to find their ideal towcar, The Caravan and Motorhome Club made changes to the criteria of the awards, including segmenting vehicles into caravan weight categories so buyers can pick a car, based on if it can tow the caravans they already own. Two new categories were also created to cater for families: ‘Best Family Towcar’ and ‘Best Large Family Towcar’. The Volvo XC60 D5 PowerPulse AWD R-Design scooped the top trophy for Towcar of the Year, beating some very worthy rivals in the competition. As well as winning the headline award, Volvo also won the ‘Best Family Towcar’ and the ‘Caravan Weight 1500-1700kg’ awards.
As part of an effort to make it easier for consumers to find their ideal towcar, The Caravan and Motorhome Club made changes to the criteria of the awards, including segmenting vehicles into caravan weight categories so buyers can pick a car, based on if it can tow the caravans they already own. Two new categories were also created to cater for families: ‘Best Family Towcar’ and ‘Best Large Family Towcar’. The Volvo XC60 D5 PowerPulse AWD R-Design scooped the top trophy for Towcar of the Year, beating some very worthy rivals in the competition. As well as winning the headline award, Volvo also won the ‘Best Family Towcar’ and the ‘Caravan Weight 1500-1700kg’ awards.
Here are the category winners:
- Caravan Weight Under 1100kg: Volkswagen Polo SEL 1.0 TSI 115PS DSG
- Caravan Weight 1100kg - 1350kg: Peugeot 3008 Allure BlueHDi 180 EAT8
- Caravan Weight 1350kg - 1500kg: Volvo XC40 D4 AWD First Edition
- Caravan Weight 1500kg - 1700kg: Volvo XC60 D5 PowerPulse AWD R-Design
- Caravan Weight over 1700kg: Volkswagen Touareg R-Line Tech 3.0 V6 TDI SCR 4MOTION 286PS Tiptronic
- Pick-Up: Volkswagen Amarok Highline 3.0 V6 TDI 4MOTION 258PS Auto
- Best Large Family Towcar: Škoda Kodiaq Edition 2.0TDI 190PS 4x4 DSG
- Club Towcar of the Year 2019: Volvo XC60 D5 PowerPulse AWD R-Design
All 35 competition entrants were put through their paces at the Millbrook Proving Ground near Bedford, where the judges were able to test in a variety of driving environments. Each car was thoroughly checked by The Caravan and Motorhome Club's technical team, then judged on ‘caravanability’ including; whether a car’s boot could swallow bulky caravan trip accessories, towball height (both solo and hitched up), the towing information provided in the manufacturer’s handbook, and driving.
The results of the competition were announced on 21 September at an Awards ceremony in London, presented by journalist and TV presenter Matt Allwright.
He commented, “This was my second time being at Millbrook Proving Ground for the competition. It was great to see how the event continues to evolve in order to get the best independent information for car buyers. The testing is so thorough, the winners should rightly be proud of their achievements.”
He commented, “This was my second time being at Millbrook Proving Ground for the competition. It was great to see how the event continues to evolve in order to get the best independent information for car buyers. The testing is so thorough, the winners should rightly be proud of their achievements.”
Grenville Chamberlain, Caravan and Motorhome Club Chairman, said: “Here at the Caravan and Motorhome Club we are committed to driving forward positive change within the motoring industry and to providing our one million members with relevant information for them to use as they make their next towcar purchase.”
Congratulations to all the winners from the Auto Trader Caravans team.
Congratulations to all the winners from the Auto Trader Caravans team.