Volkswagen Polo wins European Car Of The Year

The Polo narrowly edged out the Toyota iQ by a mere 10 points, with the Polo garnering 347 points ahead of the iQ’s 337 points. The winners were chosen from a final shortlist of seven cars that also included the new Opel Astra, the Skoda Yeti, the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Peugeot 3008 and the Citroen C3 Picasso.

The shortlist of seven had be whittled down from an initial list of 33 cars earlier in the year, and the results were decided by a panel of 59 judges that consisted of motoring journalists from across Europe, including British magazine Autocar.

The new Volkswagen Polo is lighter than the old model and has a five-star safety rating, while boasting of a larger boot and bigger body at the same time. Up to six engine options are available for the Polo, including a 104bhp 1.2-litre TSI petrol powerplant. Despite that though, the result was seen as a surprise,
with the Toyota iQ early favourite for the award.