The all-new Mazda3 was named Scotland's best family car of 2009

Held in St Andrews on Friday 13th November, the all-new Mazda3 impressed judges with its quality, style and driving experience. The panel of judges said: "Among the weird and wonderful new arrivals in the family car category the all-new Mazda3 stood out ahead of its rivals and pushed the boundaries in each criterion."

Now in its 12th year, the Scottish Car of the Year is judged by members of the AMSW, comparing in the region of 60 different models launched between September 2008 and September 2009 across eight categories.

Bill Caven, President of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers commented: "It was a new version of an old favourite, the all-new Mazda3, which our panel rated ahead of the rest. It quickly emerged that this was a car which builds on its predecessor's proven quality while adding more style and more driving pleasure. Its massively powerful new diesel engine has greater performance with maximum economy. It is no wonder that the all-new Mazda3 ticks all the right boxes when it comes to families making an informed choice regarding their car purchase.

The all-new Mazda3 range priced from £13,500 on-the-road inspired a positive reaction from the judges and tipped it ahead of its rivals including the Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Yeti in the family car category.

Mazda UK managing director Jeremy Thomson added: "We are truly delighted that the all-new Mazda3 has been named Scottish Car of the Year’s 'Best Family Car’. This award is further confirmation why the Mazda3 is one of the most popular Mazda models; it continues to attract family buyers thanks to its high levels of comfort both visually and technically, significant reductions in CO2 and fuel consumption. In many ways the all-new Mazda3 is a 'baby Mazda6’ bringing the elegant excitement of that model’s distinctive lines to the small family car sector."

All-new Mazda3 is offered with a choice of four petrol and three diesel powertrains, all fine tuned to use less fuel. The 20-strong model line-up (16 hatchback and four saloon cars) is available in a choice of nine body colours and five equipment levels; S, TS, TS2, Sport and Sports Luxury. Each highly specified and includes Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and an Emergency Stop Signalling (ESS) System as standard on all models.