Yesterday brought an early start for the Fleet Car Judging Panel who assembled at 7:30 for final adjudications here at Motorcheck HQ in the Europa Academy.
It was no small task for the ten strong panel who had the responsibility of whittling down an initial list of 91 cars to a shortlist of 21 for consideration under the 5 segments that are common in the Fleet Car arena.
After a busy morning of test drives and final checks the panel eventually named their winners whereby it fell to Mark Richardson - M.C. for the day to announce the plaudits.
Mark put the case for the Fleet Awards forward very well in his address. He demonstrated that it was important to acknowledge and recognize the significant contribution that the company car sector makes to the Irish motor industry. Whilst the retail market faces a serious downturn - business in the fleet sector continues to be vibrant and Motorcheck.ie is pleased to pay tribute to this important element of the Irish motor industry.
Winner C - Segment - Volkswagen Golf
– Judges Comments
In the close battle of the top placing in the C-Segment, the Volkswagen Golf won out, just ahead of the Ford Focus with the Audi A3 (although it’s the outgoing model) performed well to finish third. The Golf averaged well in the points scoring, securing 9 out of 10 points in the static classification and fuel economy stakes."
Winner D - Segment - Skoda Superb
– Judges Comments
Skoda is a relative newcomer into the fleet car business and the impact made in short time is impressive having three cars shortlisted in the inaugural Motorcheck.ie Fleet Car Awards. In the D-Segment the Skoda Superb held off the challenge of the Volkswagen Passat and Ford Mondeo to take the top prize."
Winner D - Segment Premium - Audi A4
– Judges Comments
This category was between three German brands – Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz and the Audi A4’s win indicates the success of the marque in the business in the business sector in recent years. It scored highly on styling, performance and fuel economy and was the favourite of the expert panel in this class."
Winner Estate - Segment - BMW 5 Series Touring
– Judges Comments
Five contenders here, three German, one Korean and one from the Czech Republic. On this occasion it was the BMW 5 Series Touring that accumulated the top marks with the Audi A4 Avant next in line followed by the Audi A6 Avant, just one point in arrears. Newcomer Hyundai i40 made an impression also as did the Skoda Superb Combi."
Winner Executive - Segment - BMW 5 Series
– Judges Comments
Again the three main German brands involved here with the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class contesting for the Executive Award. The 5 Series from BMW topped the charts ahead of the A6 scoring a number of maximum points along the way. Automatic transmission was the preferred transmission option."