Embargoed
until 00.01 15th February 2008
Audi
R8 goes from 0 to Victory in 15,000 votes
Germany’s
hottest export claims title in ‘MSN CARs car of the year’ epic
British motoring
enthusiasts have put the brakes on Ferrari and BMW today by naming the German
Audi R8 as ‘MSN Cars Car of the Year’. The online poll, available at cars.uk.msn.com, saw
42% of voters choose the German supercar ahead of Ferrari’s 430 Scuderia (13%)
and BMW’s M3 (11%), firmly placing the Audi R8 as the most desired vehicle for
2008.
The annual ‘MSN Cars Car of the Year’ award was launched in 2005, with previous winners
including the BMW 3-Series Coupé (2007), Bugatti Veyron
(2006) and Britain’s own Aston Martin DB9 (2005).
However, with
foreign vehicles dominating the top 10 this
year, it seems Brits have forgotten their 2005 winning manufacturer and the
once beloved Jaguar - both were missing from this year’s hotlist, though
Jaguar’s exciting new XF saloon just missed the cut off date for the award.
The Mini Clubman also
lost favour with this year’s voters, dropping from the impressive fourth
position achieved in 2007 for the new model Mini, to secure just 2% of votes
this year, finishing in 8th position.
While journalists
may have crowned the Fiat 500 the official
European Car of the Year, the British public clearly prefer sexy looks and
high performance, with the practical urban car failing to make the top five,
with just 6% of the votes.
Ferrari, the Italian
supercar supremo, has come up trumps again with its latest model, the Ferrari
430 Scuderia, which comes in 2nd place, following in the footsteps
of its hugely successful predecessors, Ferrari 599 GTB, Ferrari F430 / Spider,
and Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.
German manufacturer
BMW has also scored consistently well in the annual poll, ranking in the top 6
for the past four years with the BMW 6Series (2005), BMW M5 and M6 (2006) and
BMW 3-Series Coupe (2007) all hitting the mark with voters.
“The fact that the
R8 has been voted Car of the Year by such a sizeable number of MSN Cars readers
is another very positive sign that our first ever thoroughbred sports car has
really hit the mark with British buyers,” said Audi UK’s head of public
relations, Jon Zammett.
“We have been quite
literally overwhelmed by the volume of exceptionally positive coverage the car
has enjoyed in the media, but we never forget that it’s enthusiasts of the kind
who follow MSN who have made a car like the R8 such a huge sell-out success.”
MSN Cars content
manager Tom Evans said, ‘Our Car of Year online poll has once again received a
great response from motoring fans who this year have voted for Audi’s first
supercar. It’s a leader in its class,
making the Audi R8 a popular choice. ’’
“When I first drove
it a couple of months ago I was blown away by its exhilarating, sure-footed
handling, the grunt of its performance, and the fact that every second person
on the road gave it a long hard stare as we hurtled by. A brilliant car that fully deserves to follow
in the steps of cars like the DB9 and Veyron to be an ‘MSN Cars Car of the Year’.”
To find out more about
The full
results of the 2008 online poll are below:
(previous year’s results are available on
request)
|
Car |
% of vote |
|
1.
Audi R8 |
42% |
|
2.
Ferrari
430 Scuderia |
13% |
|
3.
BMW M3 |
11% |
|
4.
Ford
Mondeo |
9% |
|
5.
Rolls-Royce
Phantom DHC |
7% |
|
6.
Fiat 500 |
6% |
|
7.
Mercedes-Benz
C-Class |
6% |
|
8.
Mini
Clubman |
2% |
|
9.
Mitsubishi
i-car |
2% |
|
10.
Mazda 2 |
1% |
36,842 votes received in total
Ends
For further information please
contact:
Caitlin Hocking, caitlin.hocking@redconsultancy.com 0207 025 6410
Notes to Editors:
About the Research
36,842 people were surveyed in an online poll at
.
Please ensure you attribute all results and
findings of this survey to MSN Cars when used.
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