The Skoda Superb wins the top prize from the APMP.
The Association of Professional Motoring Press has today announced the winners of the APMP Car of the Year Awards 2016. The Powerscourt Hotel in picturesque County Wicklow was again the venue for the second annual professional press awards, voted on by Ireland’s most widely read motoring journalists. In an exciting year for new car launches, the cream of new machinery was judged using numerous criteria and votes cast. The jurors from all forms of media including print (national and daily and Sunday newspapers), radio (local and national), TV and online voted for category winners firstly and then used a single vote to nominate their Car Of The Year from the category winners list. The open and transparent voting system is a key part of APMP’s operation.
“Superb is the best value for money large family car you can buy, especially in terms of square footage” said APMP chairman Michael Sheridan of RTE. “It’s so much slicker than its predecessor, yet it has the same brilliant mix of space, comfort and practicality. And wait till you see the estate version…” said Neil Briscoe of The Irish Times.
“The new Skoda Superb is just sublime in so many areas. Nothing offers this value for money for this level of kit.” Said Justin Delaney of Rev.ie & Farm & Plant. “Value for money, class-leading space – it really does set a new benchmark in the family car class” said Bob Flavin of TheNextGear.com. “Lavish within, with space aplenty it comes with a list of engine options and goodies to match anything in the premier classes above” said Tony Toner of BeepBeep.ie.
The voting system: With each vehicle category, a juror had 25 points to distribute, with 15 points the maximum one vehicle could get and 0 points the minimum. This voting system delivered a list of category winners. From the category winners list each juror had a single vote for their nominated car of the year and a simple majority delivered the overall winners. A total of 10 individual category awards were presented including the overall APMP Car of the Year 2015, which went to the Skoda Superb.
Category winners:
City Car of the Year – Audi A1
Small Car of the Year – Mazda2
Compact Family Car of the Year – BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
Mid-Size Family Car of the Year – Volkswagen Passat
Large Family Car of the Year – Skoda Superb
Performance Car of the Year – Volkswagen Golf R
Coupé/Cabriolet of the Year – Mazda MX-5
Small SUV of the Year – Mazda CX-3
Mid-Size SUV of the Year – Land Rover Discovery Sport
Large SUV of the Year – Audi Q7
APMP Car of the Year 2016 Skoda Superb