The Opel Insignia has won the Car of the Year title in Europe. The new family car took the prize by just one point from Ford's new Fiesta.
The Opel scored 321 points to the Fiesta's 320. Third place went to the VW Golf with 223 points, followed by the Citroen C5 with 198.
The competition, which featured 39 new models introduced this year, takes votes from 59 motoring journalists representing 23 European countries. This writer is the sole Irish jury member.
This year 20 gave the Insignia top points, while 19 opted for the Fiesta in first place. In the last vote each jury member has 25 points to allocate between seven finalists and must also provide a statement of justification for the vote, which is published at the time of the award presentation.
Vauxhall Insignia 321 points
Ford Fiesta 320 points
VW Golf 223 points
Citroen C5 198 points
Alfa Romeo MiTo 148 points
Skoda Superb 144 points
Renault Megane 121 points