We have found the time in our busy schedule to finally revise our Cheap Car of the Year results. So the new winner is…
We have found the time in our busy schedule to finally revise our Cheap Car of the Year results. So the new winner is…
Volkswagen has launched the CrossPolo, which is essentially a more rugged version of the Polo, alongside the Polo GTI. Just like the GTI, it will be given a live unveiling in Geneva.
VW has revealed the headlines on their latest sporty creation: the new Polo GTI. The new version of the already award-winning hatchback uses turbo- and supercharging.
The World Car of the Year jury has announced their top 10 finalists for 2010. The top 3 will be announced in Geneva, while the actual awards will be given out at the New York International Auto Show.
We have discovered that we made a bit of an error during the Cheap Car of the Year awards. Our winner, the Renault Twingo, was first released in 2007, not 2009 as we originally thought. This means we will move our runner-up, the Volkswagen Polo, into winner position, and will be deciding a new runner-up shortly. Sorry for this mistake, stay tuned for the revised results.
Today it’s time to unveil our Cheap Car of the Year. As the title says, it has to be cheap but that doesn’t mean it has to be rubbish to drive or made out of old wheelie bins. Small, light, agile and fun was the thing we looked for.
And the winner is:
This year’s Auto Expo motor show, held in New Delhi, India, was a major event for car manufacturers. As India is a developing market, car firms have turned up with reasonably priced cars, some of them specifically designed for the market. Let’s recap the most important launches at this year’s Auto Expo by reviewing it in pictures.
Volkswagen revealed a racing version of their Polo, called the Race Polo, at the 2010 New Delhi Auto Expo. They also revealed the Volkswagen Polo for the Indian market. I am, admittedly, more interested in the Race Polo, but I will briefly go into detail about the road car a bit later, and more details can be found in the press release after the jump.
Continuing with Car of the Year nominees, here’s the second part. Family Car of the Year and Cheap Car of the Year are here.
Family Car of the Year
This is where we choose the ideal car for people with big families. Lots of space is an absolute must.
Fiat Doblo: Looks great, seats plenty of people, and it’s quite economical as well.
Toyota Sienna: The looks are a bit iffy in some places, but it promises sporty handling with a comfortable ride, great interior, and plenty of room.
Volvo XC60: A good looking car with a great, spacious interior. Very safe as well.
Vauxhall/Opel Insignia Sports Tourer: New Vauxhalls/Opels have said good bye to their old, conservative, ugly ancestors and buried them in the middle of nowhere. As a result they now make good cars and this good looking estate Insignia is one of them
Dacia Duster: A funky looking car with plenty of space, promising a low price tag.
Citroen C3 Picasso: Funky Citroen looks, with plenty of practicality and a reasonable price.
Cheap Car of the Year
These are cars for those of us who don’t want to, or simply can’t, spend too much money. Price range we set is $25,000 CAD and under.
Renault Twingo: A nice looking car with good handling and interior. Comes in a fantastic Renaultsport trim too.
Ford Fiesta: Ford has launched the new Fiesta hatch in 2008 in Europe but not in North America so we actually found an excuse to nominate it as it is a very, very good supermini.
Volkswagen Polo: This small, German hatchback has actually won the European Car of the Year Award, but that’s not important, as now it faces the most important test ever: Will it be our Cheap Car of the Year?
It seems like VW will be using the Jetta name for a new compact sedan built in Mexico. Unlike the last Jetta, this one apparently won’t be a Golf with a trunk glued to its bottom but a bespoke car. Given the fact that the Golf Mk 6, the new Polo, and the new Fox look exactly the same, differing only in size, we can surely believe them that the new car will be bespoke indeed. In size. Apparently the new Jetta will arrive in June 2010 but it could get another name in Europe. The car will be first launched in the US and only then prepared for its European debut.
Another possibility for VW is to bring the Polo in the US. As Ford did it with the Fiesta and Mazda with the 2, so bringing the Polo to America sounds like the sensible thing to do as it is a good little car which can easily rival the other two. Whatever the plans of VW, now the biggest car maker in the world, for the US it will be interesting to see what they’ll come up with.
Source: Car and Driver via Autoblog