Continental Irish Car of the Year 2020 – Full List of Winners.

Kia e-Soul Voted Continental Irish Car of the Year for 2020.

• Also voted Compact Car of the Year and Green/Efficient Car of the Year .
• First ever electric winner of the Award .
• All Electric Range of up to 452 kms

The Kia e Soul has been voted Continental Irish Car of the Year ,the first time ever this award has been won by an electric car . e Soul also created another first in that it won 3 awards at the ICOTY ceremony in the Westin Hotel in Dublin last night – Compact Car of the Year ,Green/Efficient Car of the Year and of course overall winner .

Joint-Chairman of the Irish Car of the Year Committee, Anthony Conlon said: “Congratulations to the Kia team on a very worthy win, I am sure that the Irish Car of the Year title will be a huge boost for the e-Soul during the busy January car sales period.” Joint-Chairman of the Irish Car of the Year Committee, Bob Flavin said: “”This is the first time that an electric car has won Irish Car of the Year, a real sign of things to come I think. Regardless of its fuel type, the e-Soul came out as the clear winner and was hugely popular with my motoring journalist colleagues”.

The newly appointed MD of Kia Motors Ireland, Ronan Flood, commented “Right from the start we have received really positive feedback from journalists after they had driven e Soul particularly in regard to build quality ,driving dynamics ,comfort and of course the 400km plus range on a full charge . Credit for this of course goes to our designers and engineers in Korea who are of course also responsible for our e Niro model “

The Kia eSoul launched earlier this year is a high spec, high tech EV with a range of 452kms with a distinctive, dynamic and innovative exterior and an interior packed with comfort ,safety and infotainment equipment .e Soul is available with two trims and one long range (64kw/452kms) power plant .Both trim levels are generous featuring 10.25” touchscreen AV/Nav display and 7” supervision cluster and safety features including Lane Keep Assist ,Smart Cruise Control and Front Collison Avoidance. Additional features on the K3 include full leather trim ,Harmon Kardon Sound System ,Heads Up Display and Blind Spot Detection .The K2 is available at €35,995 and the K3 at €37,495 both prices including VRT relief and government grants.

The three awards were presented to Mr. Flood (left ) by Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres (pictured)

The category winners:

Continental Tyres Irish Compact Car of the Year:                       Kia e-Soul

Continental Tyres Irish Medium Car of the Year:                         Toyota Corolla

Continental Tyres Irish Large Car of the Year:                              Peugeot 508

Continental Tyres Irish Compact SUV of the Year:                      Volkswagen T-Cross

Continental Tyres Irish Medium SUV of the Year:                      Audi Q3

Continental Tyres Irish Large SUV of the Year:                           SEAT Tarraco

Continental Tyres Irish Hot Hatchback of the Year:                    Ford Focus ST

Continental Tyres Irish Performance / Luxury Car of the Year:  Alfa Romeo Stelvio QV

Continental Tyres Irish Green / Efficient Car of the Year:         Kia e-Soul

Continental Tyres Irish MPV of the Year:                                      Peugeot Rifter

Having won in each of their categories, the ten category winners were all in the running for the top honour with the judging panel of some 32 journalists electing the Kia e-Soul by a slim margin. Last year’s 2019 Irish Car of the Year award was won by the Volvo XC40.

The joint entry of Citroen Berlingo / Opel Combo Cargo / Peugeot Partner was voted as the Continental Tyres Irish Van of the Year 2020.