up! scoops What Car? Car of the Year Award

The up! has won the highly coveted What Car? Car of the Year Award – the icing on the cake in an evening of top honours for Volkswagen.

What Car? said "This has been one of the hardest-fought Car of the Year contests in recent memory. Ponder the new heights reached by the latest Porsche 911, the small diesel Ford Mondeo and the BMW 3 Series. Consider that the superb new Range Rover Evoque doesn't even make the shortlist (who'd have predicted that six months ago?).

In the end we couldn't look past the Volkswagen up!, whose blend of refinement, quality, space and maturity sets new standards at £10,000. VW's baby feels at home in town, but is far from averse to motorway cruising. It is an astonishing proposition for not a lot of money. In fact, more than one member of our judging panel described the up! as 'the right car for the time'. So it's apt that we've made it our Car of the Year."

 Hat-trick of category wins for the brand included:

• The Safety Award – won by City Emergency Braking (pictured right)
• Best Small Family Car – won by the Golf (its fourth consecutive win)
• Best City Car – won by the the up!

Taking the Car of the Year title for the sixth time makes Volkswagen the most successful manufacturer at the What Car? awards since they began in 1978.

For more information on the up!, click here.