It gives MotorMartin great pleasure to be able to announce that Vauxhall’s all-new Brit-built Astra has been named European Car of the Year 2016 at the 86th Geneva Motor Show and is a very well deserving winner.
Consistent with previous years, the award was decided by 58 leading automotive journalists from around Europe and was presented to Vauxhall/Opel CEO Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann by Car of the Year President Hakan Matson on the eve of the first press day of the Geneva International Motor Show. Astra received a total of 309 points versus 294 for the Volvo XC90 and 202 for the Mazda MX-5.
Sharing with MotorMartin, Rory Harvey, Vauxhall’s Chairman and Managing Director said: “We’re delighted the Astra has been recognised for yet another award. To be named European Car of the Year by judges throughout Europe is a testament to the hard work that has gone into the Astra. This is the new model’s first full year of sales, and it has already been well-received.”
This year is the 52nd European Car of the Year awards and the Astra’s win marks the fifth Car of the Year title for Opel/Vauxhall. The previous winners were the Astra Mk2, Omega A, Insignia and Ampera. Quite a roll call of honour I’m sure you’ll agree.
Vauxhall were keen to point out to MotorMartin that this year has already proven to be a positive one for the model, with this award the latest in a list that also includes a Family Car category win at the What Car? Awards and being named Scottish Car of the Year.
More than 40 new cars were among the list of contenders and the Astra emerged as the winner from a field of seven Car of the Year finalists.
It’s important to highlight how the European Car of the Year award looks at all aspects of a cars design and abilities and considers how they work together as a complete package. Perhaps one of the most game changing reasons to purchase the all-new Astra is that it is available with the new-generation IntelliLink infotainment system and OnStar, a comprehensive package, which includes a high-speed 4G LTE mobile network, emergency response notification and stolen vehicle recovery technology. Vauxhall are extremely proud of the fact that OnStar has received plaudits of its own recently, winning the Auto Express Technology and the BusinessCar Techies awards.
So it just remains to say a huge MotorMartin well done to Vauxhall and the all-new Astra for gaining this prestigious award. MotorMartin can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
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