Korean endorsement as Kia Rio names car of the year

WE’VE been telling all those willing to listen for many months now that the Korean car industry — represented by Hyundai and Kia, which are part of the same conglomerate — is the coming thing in the worldwide car business.

The strides they have made in terms of design, build quality, engineering and value for money has a lot of the more established players out there taking a new found interest in what is coming out of the giant plants at Ulsan and elsewhere on the Korean peninsula.

And, while it might be a relatively small achievement in the greater scheme of all things automotive, the awarding last week of the Continental Irish Car of the Year 2012 by the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association to the Kia Rio, is a further endorsement of what the Koreans are doing.

Although we don’t vote in this particular award, this was an instance in which your humble correspondent fully concurred with the overall result (and I have to tell you that that has not always been the case). We drove the car back in August at the European launch in Lisbon and it was immediately apparent that this was a car which was going to be a contender for many such awards.

The announcement of the Irish award was made last Thursday at a ceremony in the Convention Centre in Dublin which was attended by top figures from the motor industry. The prize marked the first time that a Korean car brand has taken the title in the 35-year history of the awards.

The full results of the IMWA voting put the Kia on top with some 181 points, ahead of the Ford Focus in second with 176 points and the Peugeot 508 in third with 165 points.

The Irish Motoring Writers Association judges awarded points on the basis of criteria ranging from innovation and safety to space, comfort, build quality, driving quality and value for money.

Presenting the award to James Brooks, managing director of Kia Ireland, Paddy Murphy of sponsor, Continental Tyres Ireland, commented: “From a great crop of entrants for this year’s award, the Irish motoring writers have selected an exciting model to carry the 2012 title and no doubt the Continental Irish Car of the Year accolade will provide a great badge of honour for the Kia Rio to help it in the competitive Irish market next year. The Rio’s victory is a measure of the progress which Korean manufacturers have made on the car market in a very short time.”

Awards were also made in five categories, reflecting the diversified nature of today’s car market in Ireland. The Rio also won the Irish Small Car of the Year, while the Irish Compact Family Car of the Year went to the Ford Focus.

The Irish Family Car of the Year was won by the Peugeot 508, with the Range Rover Evoque (see above) winning the Irish Executive/Luxury Car of the Year while the Irish Performance Car of the Year was won by the Mercedes-Benz SLK.

The Kia Rio succeeds the Nissan Juke which took the title last year. The Continental Irish Van of the Year 2012 title was awarded to the Volkswagen Crafter.

But, congratulations to all at Kia for their achievement in securing this worthy prize — they genuinely deserve