The Semperit Irish Car Of The Year 2006 is the Suzuki Swift. The pint-sized hatchback beat off strong competition to win the ultimate accolade from the Irish Motoring Writers Association.
All the movers and shakers in the Irish motor industry gathered at the Berkeley Court Hotel venue to see which manufacturer would land the coveted trophy. The five finalists were Volkswagen’s ‘Passat’, Range Rover’s ‘Sport’, Citroen ‘C4’, Suzuki’s ‘Swift’ and Toyota’s ‘Aygo’.
All are great cars in their own right with the Passat being the best family saloon out there at the moment. It is well priced and has a build quality to rival its stable mate Audi. The Passat has road presence and is a classy- looking machine.
The Range Rover ‘Sport’ is coveted by X5 owners and owners of the bigger Range Rover who want to project a more youthful image. It is a very plush four-wheel drive and, while not as dynamic as an X5, on the road it is still impressive.
The outgoing 2005 Semperit Car Of The Year is the Ford Focus. The Hatchback is shaded by the Citroen, which arrived on the Irish market too late to be considered for last year’s award. Even though the C4 is not as dynamic on twisty roads as the Ford, the C4 remains a superbly comfortable package; it’s my favourite family hatchback.
Toyota, in partnership with PSA (Citroen/Peugeot), has built the best town car out there. Aygo is a nippy and frugal 3-cylinder car that starts off at a brilliant price of €11,550. It sips fuel and is cleverly designed. Built on a Toyota production line in Europe the project is seen by Toyota as a way to improving sales in Europe where the brand is seen as inferior to the French offerings – something that is not that case here in Ireland.
The Aygo is also available from the PSA brands where it is called a Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 (due in January). The French manufacturers only offer 2-year warranties whereas Toyota gives a three! The Aygo’s only real failing is the excessive cabin noise on the open road, buy hey, it’s a town car!
The Suzuki Swift first caught my eye at the Paris motorshow. The cute exterior hinted of MINI while inside the layout was fresh and far from budget looking. On the road the swift is nippy and fun to drive. The really impressive thing with the Japanese offering is the fact that you pay a budget price for a very impressive car. All my colleagues in the IMWA found the Suzuki to be a compelling little car and in return the Swift won the Semperit sponsored award by a record margin. This in no way takes away from the excellent finalists but shows how endearing the cute Swift is.
The result:
1. Suzuki Swift 119 points
2. VW Passat 86 points
3. Range Rover Sport 75 points
4. Citroen C4 64 points
5. Toyota Aygo 61 points
Michael Sheridan
