The 2009 European Car of the Year has been announced, and the winner is the Opel Insignia. Opel’s Insignia beats the Ford Fiesta by a single point.

Ray Hutton, president of the 59-strong jury said, “This is the closest car of the year competition for years, car of the Year has often been decided narrowly, but it is eight years since another Ford, the Mondeo, was beaten by a single point by Alfa Romeo’s 147.”

The Opel Insignia received the most votes from the 20 jurors, scoring 321 points, while the Ford Fiesta was placed first by 19 of the 59.

Steve Cropley, ditor-in-chief of sponsoring magazine Autocar said, “The market’s the toughest we’ve seen for 20 years,but nothing alters the fact that the Insignia is a great car. However, this result is undoubtedly something of an upset. The Ford Fiesta seemed to many a winning contender. But in the end, the Insignia deserved to triumph and it did.”

The results:
Opel Insignia - 321 points
Ford Fiesta - 320 points
Volkswagen Golf - 223 points
Citroen C5 - 198 points
Alfa Romeo MiTo - 148 points
Skoda Superb - 144 points
Renault Megane - 121 points