EURO CAR OF THE YEAR NAMED

The 2009 European Car of the Year has been named as the Opel Insignia, beating the Ford Fiesta by a single point.“This is the closest car of the year 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.”The Insignia received the most votes from 20 of the jurors scoring 321 points, while the Fiesta was placed first by 19 of them.“The market’s the toughest we’ve seen for 20 years," says Steve Cropley, editor-in-chief of sponsoring magazine Autocar, "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.”

The results:

Opel Insignia - 321 points

Ford Fiesta - 320 points

Volkswagen Golf - 223 points

Citroen C5 - 198 points

Alfa Romeo MiTo - 148 points

Skoda Superb - 144 points

Renault Megane - 121 points