The new VW Polo has scored a narrow triumph in the 2010 Car of the Year Award, beating six other finalists. The result, announced today, show that the Polo scored 347 points against 337 for Toyota’s new city car, the iQ. The pair were well ahead of the next-best runner, the Opel/Vauxhall Astra with 221 points, while the other finalists were the Skoda Yeti (158), the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (155), the Peugeot 3008 (144) and the Citroen C3 Picasso (113).

Announcing the result, Autocar’s Steve Cropley, who is one of six UK based jurors, and one of 59 car experts from 23 European countries who decide the award, revealed that the Polo was chosen as the winning car by 25 jurors, while the iQ was chosen by 20 jurors. The competition was neck-and-neck throughout the counting, with the Polo’s win confirmed only as the last vote was counted.

“This year’s results show that the body of COTY jurors firmly believes that small, economical cars were the best of this year’s crop,” says Cropley.  ”The Polo is a very complete, very refined car which delivers all the consistent qualities VW has become so well known for. However, given its unusual layout, controversial looks and premium price, the iQ did amazingly well, and it was nice to see good support for the Astra, whose maker, GM Europe, was victorious this year with the Insignia executive car. The E-Class Mercedes, considered by many to be the maker’s best saloon model for years, was also well supported.”

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The COTY jury is made up of 59 senior  motoring journalists from 23 countries. Their objective is to choose the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the past 12 months. Jurors vote twice:  first to select a short-list of seven from the new cars launched in Europe, then again to choose the winner.