The significance of the fleet sector in the Irish motor industry and the car brand’s fleet strategy were in focus at the presentation of the second annual Motorcheck.ie Fleet Car Awards 2013, held earlier this month at Johnstown House Hotel, Enfield, County Meath. Over two days, the 27 shortlisted cars from 7 categories were assessed by an expert adjudication panel with the winners revealed at the Fleet Networking Luncheon. Volkswagen, BMW, Skoda and Audi were successful again (as per last year), with Mazda joining them on the victor’s podium for the first time.
Prize ceremony compere, Mark Richardson, presented some interesting statistics relating to the importance of the fleet car sector to the overall annual new car registrations. “Of the 2.4 million vehicles in ownership in Ireland almost 200,000 of these are dedicated company cars. On average 48% of all new cars sold here are from the fleet sector, which signifies that this business element of the motor industry is very important.” Relating to potential company car replacements, Mark revealed from Motorcheck.ie data that almost 6,200 2009/2010 one owner cars are still registered to companies and that many of these are expected to be due for renewal in the coming year.
Fleet Car Awards 2013
The 27 shortlisted contenders for the 2013 Motorcheck.ie Fleet Car Awards were subjected to vigorous testing and analysis before the category winners were determined. Before introducing the contenders on the shortlist for this year’s Motorcheck.ie Fleet Car programme, Mark outlined some details on the criteria involved. Car brands were asked to submit their fleet policy, outline the safety enhancements on their company cars as standard and whether they provide driver training. Marks were awarded to the car’s styling, quality, engine and driving performance, equipment levels, safety, residuals and running costs.
Category Winners and Adjudicator Comments
- C Segment - Volkswagen Golf. Trophy accepted by Paul Burke from Volkswagen Ireland
- "Best in class, excellent and magnificent,” were just some of the comments by the judges. Another said that the driver ergonomics were superb
Cathal Doyle, Deputy Editor, Fleet Car Magazine was impressed with the list of winners in the 2013 Awards. “From the shortlist it was good to see some brands as serious contenders as they had new cars launched during this year. In the C-Segment, for example, 4 out of 5 shortlisted were new generation models and to indicate just how close the contest was, just 14 points separated the second placed car from the fifth.” “Each category was almost as close,” he added.
Shane Teskey, Managing Director, Motorcheck.ie was pleased with the success of the second running of the event. “Congratulations to all of the winners and shortlisted candidates. Compliments also to the adjudication panel for their intense work over the past six weeks. Special thanks to associate sponsors Bridgestone, Fast Fit and Nifast for their support. Our focus this year was on the emphasis the car brands pay to the safety of the professional driver and from equipment levels specified, they are heading in the right direction.”