Opel Insignia gets Euro top vote - Limerick Independent News

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Opel Insignia gets Euro top vote

Written by Staff Reporter

Tuesday, 25 November 2008

The Opel Insignia has been named Car of the Year 2009 (COTY) by a panel of car journalists from 23 countries, recognizing the mid-sized car as revolutionary for the brand.
The Car of the Year is a designation given by 59 senior motoring correspondents from 23 European countries. They chose the Insignia from a tough field of 37 contenders in this year’s competition.

Twenty journalists gave the Insignia top score, to help it score an impressive 321 votes. The Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Golf came in second and third respectively.
To be named the best car of 2009, the journalists must take into consideration criteria such as design, safety, handling and performance. “Technical innovation and value-for-money are particularly important factors,” COTY said.
With its fresh new design and use of leading technology, the new Opel Insignia, available on the market in saloon, hatchback and Estate variants, was considered to surpass these criteria.
The Insignia’s styling is particularly attractive and is combined well with the Opel backed German engineering. The car also proves to be particularly efficient aerodynamically with a Cd of 0.27 which influences the economic, dynamic and acoustic qualities of the car. In addition, novel features like the Opel Eye, which can read road signs and warn drivers when they veer out of their lane, are also considered to be segment-leading technologies.
The new car will hit dealerships in Ireland in December 2009 with a line-up of six engines. All Insignia models meet Euro 5 emissions standards and come with six-speed transmissions, either manual or automatic.
The four petrol engines range from a four-cylinder 115bhp unit to a V6 with 260bhp. The two new direct-injection turbo-diesels exclusively developed for the Insignia feature displacements of 2.0 litres. They offer outputs of 130 and 160bhp with excellent torque values of 300 and 350Nm. All combinations compare competitively in CO2 emissions. An ecoFLEX variant with much lower fuel consumption and CO2 emission levels will be added in the near future.
With this year’s award, the Insignia is the third Opel model to win the ICOY award. The Kadett won the top spot in 1985; the Omega two years after that. It is the first mid-sized sedan to win the award since 1998.
Dave Sheeran, Managing Director of Opel Ireland commented: “This is a significant achievement for Opel, beating some formidable opposition to win this prestigious award. We are delighted that the international panel of judges endorse our new car as a significant addition to the market, and back up our belief that it represents a new benchmark in its sector.”

Caption: The Opel Insignia has been voted as the European Car of the Year 2009 by a panel of European motoring journalists.

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