The new Ford Mondeo, introduced at the beginning of 2015, has been voted Continental Irish Car of the Year 2016 by the members of the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association. The announcement of the 39th Irish Car of the Year award was made last week at a ceremony in Dublin.

The Ford Mondeo was the outright winner from an initial eligible entry of 43 new cars. The cars were divided into six categories to take account of the diverse nature of the modern car market and were voted on across a number of key areas that affect consumer choices. These included design, comfort, safety, economy, handling and performance, as well as driver satisfaction, value for money and technical innovation. There was a maximum of 20 points under each heading and the final scores were weighted based on the number of the judges who had driven the respective eligible cars.

John Galvin, chair of the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association, said: “The Irish motoring writers have selected an exciting model and no doubt the 2016 Irish Car of the Year accolade will provide a huge boost to the popularity of the Ford Mondeo in the Irish market, particularly in the context of the current competitive economic environment.”

Awards were given in six categories. The Ford Mondeo won its category award for the best medium size car as well as the overall award based on the highest number of scores across the board.

The other category winners were:

  • • Continental Irish Small Car of the Year – Opel Corsa.
  • • Continental Irish Compact Family Car of the Year – Honda HR-V.
  • • Continental Irish Medium Car of the Year – Ford Mondeo.
  • • Continental Irish Large Car of the Year – Kia Sorento.
  • • Continental Irish Executive Car of the Year – Volvo XC90.
  • • Continental Irish Performance Car of the Year – Audi TT.

    • The Ford Mondeo succeeds the Nissan Qashqai, which took the title last year. This is the third time that the Ford Mondeo has won the award, presented by members of the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association.

    On a personal choice note, the Ford Mondeo was not my favourite car. My top ranking among the 43 eligible cars was the recently introduced Honda HR-V, which I have written about in recent weeks. My second choice was the Skoda Superb, while my third choice ended up being a tie between the Audi Q7 and the Volkswagen Passat, with the Mondeo being my fifth overall choice.

    The majority vote of the members selected the Mondeo to make it the overall winner.