VW Golf crowned car of the year - Bankrate.com

The Volkswagen Golf was named the 2015 North American Car of the Year today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

"Volkswagen’s family of hatchbacks represents one of the best values available for less than $30,000," says Erin Riches-Wong of Edmunds.com, one of the award jurors. "The GTI, in particular, is a steal, because you’re basically getting a luxury car -- with equal parts performance, comfort and utility -- for the price of a family car. We should all run out and buy one before VW rethinks its bargain pricing strategy on this car."

Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn stands with the 2015 Golf and Golf GTI.

Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn stands with the 2015 Golf and Golf GTI.

The prestigious award is unique in that it is given each year by an independent group of automotive journalists instead of a single media outlet.

Beat out finalists from Hyundai, Ford

The award assesses cars in the areas of innovation, comfort, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar. In addition to the Golf, the finalists for the North American Car of the Year were the Ford Mustang and Hyundai Genesis. The jurors initially considered all cars that are new or substantially redesigned for the 2015 model year.

The Volkswagen Golf won with 256 points, followed by the Ford Mustang at 204 and the Hyundai Genesis with 110.

Priced as low as $18,000

The 2015 Golf is available in four different versions: the sporty Golf GTI, the Golf 1.8T, the clean diesel Golf TDI and the e-Golf, an all-electric version. Pricing starts at $17,995.

Volkswagen will add to the Golf lineup later this year. A Golf SportWagen will be available as a clean diesel or with a turbocharged 1.8-liter TSI engine. The company also will introduce a limited edition, 292-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Golf R. While both will go on sale this spring, the Golf R has already sold out of its current production run via advanced orders.

"This award highlights our achievements and hard work in the past year, and we are confident that the Golf family will continue to pave the way for the brand in the year ahead," Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn said in a statement.

In the 22-year history of the award, domestic automakers have won 12 times and foreign nameplates have won 10 times. This year was the second time Volkswagen won the award. It also won in 1999 for the New Beetle.

Volkswagen has been busy pursuing American buyers. It will build its new crossover at its factory in Tennessee. Read about it in VW to build new SUV in US.

Tara Baukus Mello writes the cars blog as well as the weekly Driving for Dollars column, providing both practical financial advice for consumers as well as insight into the latest developments in the automotive world. Follow her on Facebook here or on Twitter @SheDrives.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two Naked Pics Of Holly Sonders. The Big News To Emerge From The 2013 PGA Show

Image
The media centre at the 2013 PGA Show was buzzing yesterday.  Not because of anything that happened at the show.  God forbid! When I rocked in, several men (and one woman) were gathered around an iphone ogling and sharing  two pics of who they claimed were Holly Sonders naked. Now I have to hold my hands up and say, I had to google her to find out she’s from The Golf Channel. I don’t watch the Golf Channel because I don’t have an erectile dysfunction problem or need to rent a car from National.  I’m told adverts for both are all that’s on that channel. How they knew for certain it was her, I dont know.  Unless the cheeks of her ass were on her passport photo and they recognized them from there, but I doubt it. The First Pic The first pic is taken from behind. No pun intended.  The media guys say it was taken by her fiancee (?) and shows Holly in a white thong which has disappeared a dangerously long ways into the bummage.  I’m talking two aerial liquitabs and a hot whit
Read more

Sarah Stirk Nipple Gate: Navy Top Leaves Viewers Disappointed

Image
London: Sky Sports management this morning issued a statement  apologizing to subscribers after Sarah Stirk wore a navy dress live on air.  It is believed up to 60,000 horny golfers were left limp after they tuned in to final round coverage of the Valero Texas Open in the hope of getting a glimpse of the legendary Stirk starter buttons. “I pay my subscription, I’m bloody well entitled to see Sarah’s Wimbledon strawberries” said factory worker Paul Manning 52 from Hereford. “I even missed the ten minute freeview, coz my mate Derek tweeted that Stirk was going into the shot centre for ten minutes at 11pm”. The Sky statement read: We apologize unreservedly for the navy dress Sarah wore during last nights broadcast, through which no nipples were visible. This was due to a wardrobe malfunction. However we do intend to rectify this during our US Masters coverage and assure viewers that plenty of bridge rivets will be on show, both from Sarah and special guest Colin Montgomeri
Read more

Holly Sonders Quits Golf Channel After Contract Talks Fail. Moves To Fox.

Image
Tissues at the ready guys as this will come as a shock to you all that Holly Sonders , the female face of the Golf Channel, has quit and reportedly taken a job with Fox Sports. According to  reports Sonders, who appeared regularly on “Morning Drive” since 2011, could not come to an agreement on a new contract deal with the Golf Channel and was quickly snapped up by Fox Sports where she is expected to work on golf and NFL. Related: Holly Sonders Does The Ice Bucket Challenge We've had some fun with Holly over the last few years ( was that really her in those nudie pics? ) but now it looks like we'll be crying into those tissues. Join the GolfCentralDaily community on Twitter for loads more comment on and off the course. Follow @golfcentraldoc
Read more