The new Volkswagen Polo marked its first year of production in style by triumphing in the 2010 European Car of the Year Award, beating six other finalists. VW’s baby Golf scored 347 points, 10 more than runner up Toyota iQ. Both these cars scored well ahead of the rest, which included the new Opel Astra (221 points), Skoda Yeti (158), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (155), Peugeot 3008 (144) and the Citroen C3 Picasso (113).
“This year’s results show that the body of COTY jurors firmly believes that small, economical cars were the best of this year’s crop. The Polo is a very complete, very refined car which delivers all the consistent qualities VW has become so well known for. However, given its unusual layout, controversial looks and premium price, the iQ did amazingly well,” said Steve Cropley of Autocar, one of six UK based jurors among 59 senior motoring jornalists from 23 European countries who decide the award.
The judges voted twice, first to select a shortlist of seven, and again to choose the winner. The Polo was backed as the winning car by 25 jurors, while the iQ was chosen by 20 jurors. The 2009 winner of the European COTY is the Opel Insignia, which narrowly edged out the Ford Fiesta to the title.
Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.
good win for VW!
VW have win a lot of awards including their 1.4L twincharge engine… I still dont get it why on earth our beloved p1 rejected their offer at first… Haiz.. Maybe Campro can get best class award for 1.6?!? Well maybe is the 80's i think..
For some particular reason, it is fine for iQ for not winning. It is just too cramped.
What's the point, it will still be overpriced due to our taxes. I'm getting frustrated watching paultan.org everyday looking at beautiful cars that we could own if we live somewhere else but not here due to high taxes. I respect the need to protect P1 and P2 but if they keep on building cars that could not compete with the rest of the world, why bother? Sure, P2 based on some manufacturer, but is this what we call Malaysia Boleh? P1 still build cars that satisfy the needs, but not the wants. We lag behind in terms of safety, performance, technology and sustainability. We cannot use the fact that we are new, as Hyundai and Kia are also relatively new but they have improved greatly over the years. Come onlah, we Malaysians deserve better cars, and if you want to us to continue buying P1 and P2, up your standards and show us that Malaysia really boleh. If not, why slap us with astronomical taxes?
Accidents on the road are not only due to carelessness, but also due to high taxes in order to get a safer car. Why can't we have safer M'sian cars? Don't tell me they're progressing, yes, at a snail's pace. Malaysia Boleh, we can build skyscrapers which are quakeproof, cities that mimick other cities in the world but why can't we build good quality cars? Until that is achieved, I want to say that we do not deserve paying triple quadruple for foreign cars. Yes, we can make better cars. Yes we can! Malaysia Boleh!
Head Hunter..i second that…
well said Head Hunter!
Yeah,Head Hunter.i believe we can make better cars.i can see we're improving but rather slowly.but slow n steady.lolz!1I LOVE THE POLO!!I LOVE THE POLO GTi EVEN MORE!!When will GTi come to our shore!!
shut up~~
i m boring with ppl keep on rumbling on malaysia tax policies,national car protection policies bla bla
mm.. perhaps you did not notice the sign that says, paul tan's rants and raves of the automotive industry. hehe.. cheers cyberkayu.
polo is good choice. nice engine, good looks, superior assembly. dsg gearbox.
selling in sgd for around 65k for the 1.4 dsg model.
when it comes here, maybe will price like current polo. 110k plus?
way to go baby golf!!
thank goodness. who were the idiots who voted for the toyota? that car isn't even as good as the renault twingo for goodness sake. congrats VW.
congrats VW. very nice car
Paul, do you have other photos or articles on this cute Polo? Quite a change from the previous version.
Sure here are some links:
http://paultan.org/2009/03/03/new-volkswagen-polo… http://paultan.org/2009/11/21/new-volkswagen-polo… http://paultan.org/2009/09/16/volkswagen-polo-rec…
paul, here the bonus question.. how much will it be at malaysia?
pls make it cheap
eleh, tak mampu pakai VW polo, buat sendri boleh!! Pi beli myvi, then ganti badge P2 dgn VW, bikin2 bodykit skit lagi, voila!! Perodua Golf/Polo GTi!!
No, I'm serious. I've seen myvi doing like that. Some even try to imitate Mini. Perodua mah…… got toyota DNA, apa worry? bikin macamana sekalipun, 2nd hand value still very good. kan?
Or, if u have no money to do that, get a one-way tix to London/NY/Tokyo/Munich/Bangkok/Jakarta/HK/well, every single city other than Malaysia, since cars are ultra cheap at the rest of the world.
Hmm wonder when will it be coming to malaysia. it is rather affordable in singapore though prices about the same as a 1.6 altis, but i heard waiting list there is about 4 months long
BeemerFreak said,
December 2, 2009 @ 1:39 am
Hmm wonder when will it be coming to malaysia. it is rather affordable in singapore though prices about the same as a 1.6 altis, but i heard waiting list there is about 4 months long
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lol but would malaysians buy hatchbacks?
like this car!