ams The best cars of 2009
02.01.2010
With the new edition of the Golf has it VW finally done again. The best-selling car in Germany was voted the best car in the lower middle class by auto motor und sport readers for the first time since 2004. A satisfaction for the engineers, designers and managers in Wolfsburg after they have always followed the A udi A3 and thus had to give up to the colleagues from Ingolstadt.
But also otherwise There have been some changes to the top positions in the auto motor und sport readers' poll 'The Best Cars 2009'. So the Mercedes S-Class the top placement in the luxury class won in 2007 not against the new BMW 7 Series . On the contrary: with a minus of 11.6 percent of the votes, the S-Class even fell behind the Audi A8 back to third place.
Audi cannot repeat dream result
Audi cannot repeat the dream result of 2008, but is defending three of the four top positions it achieved last year: The new A4 won over most of the readers in the middle class category with 35.3 percent of the votes. The BMW 3er came in second over eleven percent behind, followed by the Mercedes C -Class . With fourth place and 5.4 percent of the votes, the new Opel flagship Insignia celebrate a first respectable success. The VW Passat , itfollows the Ford Mondeo .
The very good performance of is astonishing Audi (38.4 percent) in the upper middle class. Despite its long running time, the A6 the competitors BMW 5er (21, 0 percent) and Mercedes CLS (16 , 0 percent) clearly behind.
In the off-road vehicle category, Audi made the transition seamlessly. After 2008 the Q7 got the most votes received, this year is the Q5 in first place with 15.6 percent. The performance of the likewise new Mercedes GLK . Only 7.7 percent of the participants liked its angular design. That is enough behind BMW X5 (10, 5 percent) and Mercedes G-Class (nine percent) for fourth place. The M-Class adopted
came out of the top six in 2009; in the previous year she still got 11.4 percent of the votes. All in all, this year's readers' poll should not be fondly remembered by Mercedes fans: in 2009 not a single model achieved first place. The well-known brand in Germany sold the most cars after VW last year.
VW wins
The top volume brand in the country is doing well It's better there: In addition to the lower middle class, VW was also able to win the categories of small cars and vans. Even in the phase out, the Polo is in clear number one for readers in this segment (30.1 percent). The new Ford Fiesta is also well received , which improved from seventh to second place with an increase of 11.2 percent compared to the last election.
Alfa Romeo also has one among small carssuccessful debut. The Mito lets you go straight away Opel Corsa behind and displaced in the Import assessment of the previous year's winner Skoda Fabia with a clear 18 percent lead over second place. The Fabia lost a good eight percent compared to 2008.
The hoped-for breakthrough in the Minis is achieved by Fiat 500 not. Even if the lead of 0.4 percent is not exactly lush, the Mini remains number one in this category.
As a consolation, the 500 remains at the top of the import ranking. Despite good sales figures, the Smart Fortwo is against Mini and Fiat 500 no chance.
Another first place goes to an Italian car: The Ferrari California beats the Aston Martin DB9 Volante in the import convertible classification. The California takes over from its brother F430 Spider as the most popular import convertible. In 2009, the overall ranking was again won by the Porsche 911 Cabrio , which means last year’s victory over the Mercedes SL can repeat. Compared to last year, however, the lead of only 1.4 percent is significantly lower. In 2008 the Porsche received around twice as many votes as the Mercedes. Overall, however, the performance of BMW is also remarkable: Among the six most popular convertibles, 3er , 1er and 6er three Place BMW models.
Porsche brings back sports car titles
After the shame last year, as the Audi R8 took first place, winsPorsche this time the prestigious sports car classification wafer-thin. With 26.1 percent, the 911 leaves the R8 (26.0 percent) just behind. The fact that the import ranking goes to an Aston Martin again may be due to the spectacular scenes in the new James Bond film. Winners DB9 /DBS
and V8 Vantage place themselves in front of the Ferrari model F430 in 2009.
British models are also traditionally strong in the off-road vehicle category, with the Range Rover Sport winning (10.4 Percent) again the import ranking of off-roaders. Volvo's answer to the trend towards more compact SUVs is also well placed: The XC 60 at least came in third.
Citroen C5 and Skoda Superb instead of Jaguar XF
A defeat, however, has to Jaguar plug in. In 2008, the design of the XF certainly ensured a victory, but the positive impression apparently faded a bit among the participants in the readers' choice. Of all things, the VW sister brand Skoda, which up to now has not been particularly conspicuous due to its particularly fascinating design, is now running with the top model Superb outperformed the Jaguar XF (minus 3.2 percent) as the best import car in the upper middle class.
Another newcomer is the Citroën C5 , who won the import ranking of the middle class can. The new design of the French brand was already well received with the introduction of the C6. The C5 is also conspicuous, but not quite as avant-garde as the C6 . A mixture that apparently convinces auto motor und sport readers. Last year's winner Alfa Romeo 159 will be in Only third this year, the second place goes to Skoda Octavia . The Lexus IS succeeds as the best Japanese model With 9.1 percent once again just a respectable success.
Vans firmly in VW hands
The category of vans is traditionally a stronghold of VW. In the past five years, first place has always gone to VW Multivan , and nothing has changed about that. The Bulli remains the reader's favorite. However, there are some in the other placesChanges. In recent years, the Ford S- Place Max with its sporty design behind the Multivan. This time, the second place goes to the little VW brother Touran . And not because more readers than before would have voted for it: The Touran is almost exactly at the previous year's level. The reason for the jump are the losses at Ford: The S-Max loses four percent of votes.
The import ranking for the vans also goes to a series winner. As in the previous five years, the first is the Renault Espace . However, the gap to the pursuers is shrinking from year to year. The lead over the second-placed Skoda Roomster is 2009 only 0.7 percent.
Maserati Quattroporte as a permanent winner
With every further year in which the Maserati Quattroporte wins the import ranking in the luxury class, it becomes clear what a great success designer Sergio Pininfarina has achieved Model succeeded. More than 15 percent separate the Maserati from the runner-up Bentley Continental Flying Spur and from Rolls-Royce Phantom - two competitors who can justifiably be described as real dream cars. After the three German models BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and Mercedes S-Class, the Quattroporte is the readers' most popular luxury sedan.
At Seat the corks should pop really loud this year. Because unlike Maserati, the Spanish brand has not been able to celebrate any success in the readers' choice 'The Best Cars' for ten years. This year the time has finally come: The Seat León occupies first place in the import ranking of the lower middle class. With the narrow lead of 0.6 percent he opposes the Alfa Romeo 147 through. The fascination of the unusually designed Volvo C30 seems on the other hand not having stopped long. TheLast year's winner loses 4.4 percent and slips to third place. The sales figures in Germany also fell short of expectations in 2008.
But it wasn't just vehicles with an unusual design that had a difficult time in 2008. In the discussions about the car crisis, the fascination that new models still exert on car fans has recently been lost a little. Hopefully, the variety of 336 cars that took part in the auto motor und sport poll has awakened the participants again.
