It's been a good week for General Motors as the Vauxhall Ampera and Chevrolet Volt have jointly been awarded the ‘European Car of the Year 2012’ award.
The winners fought off competition from other leading car brands including VW and Ford.
The Vauxhall Ampera and Chevrolet Volt have both landed previous accolades including 'World Green Car of the Year 2011' and the 'North American Car of the Year 2011' award.
The 16 kWh lithium ion battery powers the 111kW/150bhp electric motor for both models, making them both environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
A panel of 59 leading automotive journalists from 23 different European countries were so enthralled with the range of features offered by the two models that they awarded the event's highest rating, 47 points, to both vehicles.
The panellists placed the Vauxhall and Chevy over five other brands that had reached the final stages of the 'Car of the Year’ (COTY) competition.
Proud carmakers
Karl-Friedrich Stracke, Vauxhall CEO, and Susan Docherty, Chevrolet's President and Managing Director for Europe, had the honour of collecting their awards from President of the COTY judging panel, Hakan Matson.
Commenting on the achievement, Karl-Friedrich Stracke said:
"We are extremely pleased that our revolutionary electric vehicle has emerged as the winner in such a tough field of competitors. And we are very proud of this accolade.
"This encourages us further to continue our leadership role in the area of e-mobility."
"Our car demonstrates that electric driving can be fun and reliable without ever compromising the owners' lifestyle," added Susan Docherty, President and Managing Director, Chevrolet Europe.
The competition judged cars in numerous areas, including the following: design, comfort, performance, innovative technologies and efficiency.
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