The wait is over! The jury has just announced that the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia is the winner of the prestigious Car of the Year 2009 award, leading the overall table by only one point! Insignia won the battle with 321 points, while Ford Fiesta came in second with 320 votes. Volkswagen Golf arrived third with 223 points while Citroen CS and Alfa Romeo Mito were placed on the fourth and fifth position with 198 and 148 points, respectively.
Insignia's narrow victory is a first for General Motors in 22 years, with Opel Omega the latest model to win the award in 1987. The American carmaker is currently experiencing tough times in the United States due to poor sales affecting most of its brands.
How did Insignia manage to win the award? Experts say Opel's new model combines some of the best features in the automotive markets with eye-catching styling elements and an affordable price.
“The Insignia is not only a new Opel; it heralds a new world where Opel customers have not been before. The Insignia features a contemporary design which will take the Opel brand further: thrilling driving precision, high class ride - as well as acoustic comfort, dynamic safety, full passive safety package and innovations such as the Flexride, exceptional ride on 20” tires, a 9-program auto lighting system, road sign information and unintended white line crossing warning made the decision easy in the end,” Peter Aaboe from Denmark, member of the jury who gave a 10 to Insignia, said about the winner.
In terms of features, the base Opel Insignia has an impressive line-up of standard features, with safety systems such as driver and front passenger airbags, front seat side-impact airbags, full-size curtain airbags,
ESP, active safety front seat head restraints plus cruise control, power windows, steering wheel mounted audio controls and automatic lightning control.
And because we were talking about an affordable price, the cheapest Vauxhall Insignia costs 16,000 pounds (approx. 18,800 euros).
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