Dacia Duster Is Scottish Car Of The Year

(Saturday 13 October 2012)

The Dacia Duster has been named 2012 Car of the Year by the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers in its fifteenth annual award ceremony.

The Duster was voted top SUV by the judges, who then chose it above all the other category winners in a separate poll for the overall trophy.

"When the economy is tough and the motoring public are feeling the pinch and tightening their belts," said ASMW President John Murdoch, "the private buyer wants real value for money and the Dacia Duster certainly delivers on that score. Our choice may not set radical new standards in any one area but we believe it’s the sum of its parts which add up.

"Using proven technology, this is a car with huge appeal to the canny Scottish buyer spending their own money and we believe it's completely unrivalled in terms of its mix of ability, space, running costs and pricing."

Yet more silverware headed Dacia's way when the Duster was named top Budget car of 2012.

Two of this year's awards were shared. The judges could not split the Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera when it came to choosing the best electric car, so gave it to both (they're basically the same thing anyway), while Mazda and Volvo were jointly awarded the Safety trophy for the CX-5's Smart City Brake Support and the V40's pedestrian airbag.

The Hyundai i30 was named both best Family car and, in Tourer form, best Estate. Other category winners were the Volkswagen up! (Compact), Kia Rio (Supermini), Vauxhall Zafira Tourer (MPV), Volvo V40 (Executive Hatchback), BMW 3-Series (Executive Saloon), Vauxhall Astra VXR (Sporting), BMW 320d (Diesel), Porsche Boxster (Drop Top) and Toyota GT 86 (Coupé).

The Citroen DS5 Hybrid4 won the Eco award, the Jaguar C-X16 was named top Design Concept, and the President's Award went to Fiona Pargeter for leading the PR team behind the very successful Range Rover Evoque campaign.