Kia’s stylish new Sportage has taken Scotland’s top motoring accolade at the 2010 Scottish Car of the Year Awards.
To take the overall title, the stylish Sportage had to win its own category and then defeat the strong opposition from the other categories in a final vote. This year there were 11 category winners - drawn from the following: small, family, executive, luxury, sporting, MPV, diesel, drop top, SUV, eco, and safety.
As in previous years, competition was tough across the board and the Small category reflected that with two cars being very close. The award was taken by the Suzuki Swift and the runner-up was the Citroen DS.
The excellent Skoda Superb was the runaway winner of the Family car sector with the Peugeot 3008 in second place. The MPV award was won by the Peugeot 5008 in a close battle with Ford's S-Max.
It was another close contest in the executive section with Volvo's S60 coming out the winner just ahead of BMW's new 5-series. In the Luxury category Jaguar's new XJ took the title with Audi's A8 finishing second.
The sporting category offered up some great cars this year with the title going to SEAT's Leon Cupra R and Peugeot's RCZ taking the runner-up slot.
The diesel section is always hotly contested and this time the winner is the BMW 530d with Jaguar's XJ the runner-up. The sensational Audi R8 Spyder took the Drop Top award ahead of Nissan's 370Z.
The SUV title was taken by the Kia Sportage ahead of the VW Touareg before going on to win the overall title.
The new ECO award went to SEAT's Leon Ecomotive model - recognised for its astonishing mpg figures and low 99 gm/km of CO2 emissions.
Suzuki's value for money Swift took the inaugural safety award for having seven airbags and ESP included as standard equipment on all models.
During the event John Murdoch, president of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers, said, “Despite tough times in the motoring industry, some truly excellent new cars are still being launched and manufacturers are responding well to the the many challenges they currently face. Kia are improving at an astonishing rate and they have shown that by producing the new Sportage. The newcomer impressed us with its stylish looks, sound packaging and blend of driving dynamics, safety and of course value for money.
2010 category winners
Small - Suzuki Swift; Family - Skoda Superb Estate; MPV - Peugeot 5008; Executive - Volvo S60; Luxury - Jaguar XJ; Sporting - Seat Leon Cupra; Diesel - BMW 530d; Drop Top - Audi R8 Spyder; SUV - Kia Sportage; Eco - Seat Leon Ecomotive; Safety - Suzuki Swift.
