The Ford Mondeo has been voted Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2008 by the Irish Motoring Writers Association.
Ford's top man in Ireland Eddie Murphy accepted the award from Ferdia O'Dowd (Chairman IMWA) and Paddy Murphy (Semperit) at a ceremony in Dublin that was attended by all of motoring's 'movers and shakers'. The 28 voting members of the IMWA (of which I'm one) used criteria such innovation, safety, space, styling, comfort, build quality and of course value for money.
The Mondeo scored 122 points to win the coveted title (that it won once before in the early 90s). Korean brand Kia landed second place scoring 104 points with the Cee'd that comes with an industry leading seven-year warranty. Japanese carmaker Nissan was third scoring 96 points with Qashqai. The SUV-like car has caught the imagination of Irish buyers thanks to the combination of SUV looks and family hatchback price. In fourth place came Laguna from Renault with 66 points; you may remember it was not only a previous Semperit Irish Car of the Year winner but the first car ever to score five stars at Euro NCAP. In fifth spot was the fiat Bravo with 42 points. Check out the 'motors archive' for reviews of these cars.
At the award ceremony guest of honour Eddie Jordan praised the car industry in Ireland for improving the quality of new vehicles with regard to safety. He also praised the fantastic effort made by the organisers and fans who made the recent Rally Ireland WRC round such a success. The cross border co-operation was something a younger Eddie never imagined he'd see. If you look up 'rogue' in the dictionary Eddie's name is beside it. Eddie, who is not far off 60, is a legend in these parts and made of special stuff. At the awards Eddie apologised for the need to sit down as he was suffering from a gammy leg; later following an x-ray it was confirmed as broken!
All new cars launched since last year's competition were eligible. IMWA journalists voted them down to a shortlist that would attend a refresher day where the cars could be driven again. Using proportional representation the five finalists were selected.
The new European Car of the Year, the very cute Fiat 500, was not eligible in the Irish competition because it is not on sale in Ireland until January 2008. Even if it was, I doubt it would have pushed Mondeo from top spot. Despite a cool design and great NCAP score for a small car (five stars) the 500 doesn't deliver the same overall package as Mondeo. The European competition crowned the Ford S-Max last year (it uses Mondeo's underpinnings) and can you imagine two Fords winning in a row when an Italian alternative was available? I'll say no more.
Mondeo proudly takes over from Honda's Civic that won the 2007 Semperit Irish Car of the Year award. The Semperit Irish Van of the Year award for 2008 went to the new Fiat Scudo.
Michael Sheridan
