Volkswagen is celebrating victory in the European Car of the Year competition with its new Polo after a close fight with the Toyota iQ. The Polo just edged the win, gaining 347 points to the iQ's 337 tally, with 25 of the 59 jurors voting for the VW as overall winner - to 20 votes for the Toyota.
The Polo emerged triumphant from an original entry of 33 cars that was whittled down to a shortlist of seven. Full results below, but the Polo was up against some strong competition in the form of the new Vauxhall Astra, Skoda Yeti and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
However, the VW Polo won out and Hakan Matson, president of the COTY jury, said: "It was the Polo's comprehensive safety equipment and its advanced range of engines that impressed us the most. With the Polo BlueMotion, Volkswagen was also able to add a very fuel efficient yet affordable car to its range."
Since its launch in May of 2009, Volkswagen has taken more than 130,000 orders for the new Polo.
European Car of the Year results:
1
Volkswagen Polo
2
Toyota iQ
3
Opel/Vauxhall Astra
4
Skoda Yeti
5
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
6
Peugeot 3008
7
Citroen C3 Picasso
Alisdair Suttie - 1 Dec 2009