Yperion
Cornering Kingpin
The Volkswagen Passat was named Europe's best new car at the Geneva Motor Show. The accolade was delivered at the 15th annual Auto 1 awards, one of the highlights of the event, attended by bosses of the world's biggest car firms.
A gold trophy and citation were presented to VW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder by Dr Andreas Wiele, member of the board of Europe's giant publishing house, Axel Springer.
An invited VIP audience of nearly 700 guests was first treated to a welcoming introduction by Dr Martin Winterkorn, Audi chairman, followed by the awarding of the national Auto 1 Car of the Year trophies, as chosen by the readers of Auto Express in the UK and our 23 sister motoring magazines across Europe.
Takeo Fukui, president and chief executive of Honda, received the UK winner's trophy for the new Honda Civic from Auto Express's group publishing director, Phil Parker. The Civic was one of 13 contenders for the overall Europe Auto 1 car of the year title. They were driven, assessed and scored by international juries of technicians, racing drivers and international motoring magazine editors, including Auto Express's David Johns.
At the end of the special test session in Germany shortly before the Geneva show opened, the Passat emerged victorious. The awards evening also proved a record-breaker for Citroen, which became the first winner of the Auto 1 Innovation prize two years running.
The pop-up bonnet featured on its C6 executive car, which is designed to reduce potential pedestrian injuries, was named the year's most significant technical achievement. Citroen managing director Claude Satinet collected the trophy.
Source
