We are delighted to announce that the new Vauxhall Insignia has taken the honours as Car of the Year for 2009.

This prestigious competition, which brings together votes from 59 senior motoring journalists in 23 European countries, gave the decision to GM's new model ahead of Ford's Fiesta and the new VW Golf, with Insignia picking up an impressive 321 votes.

Some 37 cars were put forward for the latest Car of the Year (COTY) award, only seven of which were shortlisted for the final prize. The award honours the most outstanding car launched in the last 12 months; each contender must be on sale in at least five European countries.

A worthy winner

Available to order now, new Insignia is available in three distinct body styles: hatchback, saloon and Sports Tourer. The state-of-the-art technology available across the range is complemented on the latter model by estate-specific features such as power tailgate, self-levelling suspension and the FlexOrganiser® cargo management system.

Competitively priced and tax-efficient

Despite its wealth of quality and innovation, new Insignia is also competitively priced. The range starts at just £15,935 on-the-road for 1.8i 16v VVT Exclusiv hatchback and saloon models; the entry level diesel model is the 2.0CDTi 16v (130PS) Exclusiv, costing £16,935 on-the-road. The advantages of choosing new Insignia don't end there. Thanks to the latest, stringent emissions technology, the car's range of Euro 5 compliant petrol and common rail turbo diesel engines are also highly competitive on CO₂ emissions - that's good news for your drivers when it comes to Benefit-in-Kind tax. Both the 2.0CDTi 16v (130PS) and 2.0CDTi 16v (160PS) diesels in the hatch and saloon, for example, have CO₂ emissions of just 154g/km - placing them in the low 21% banding for BiK for tax year 2008/09.*¹

Positive reaction

It's not surprising, then, that the positive response to Insignia's sensational victory has been pretty well unanimous. Steve Cropley, editor-in-chief of Autocar, COTY's British-based sponsoring magazine said: "We are delighted to be able to deliver good news at such a tough time. The market's the toughest we've seen for 20 years, but nothing alters the fact that the Insignia is a great car... it deserved to triumph and it did."

Bill Parfitt, Chairman and Managing Director of General Motors UK Ltd, was equally encouraged by the win: "This is great news for GM/Vauxhall and its employees, suppliers and Retailers. Vauxhall has made great strides in recent years, particularly in design and dynamics, and the Insignia illustrates what we're capable of achieving. It offers great quality and value in a prestige package that will provide an exceptional ownership experience to our customers."

If you'd like to find out more about the Car of the Year for 2009 email gmukfleet@gm.com or give our Information Centre a call on 0870 010 0651.*² 

To register for a 3 Day Test Drive*³ of any model in GM UK range, click on the link below or access the site directly via the GM UK Fleet Hub.

Yours sincerely