The Golden Steering Wheel awards were initiated 29 years ago by Bild am Sonntag, a Sunday publication with more than 10.78 million readers each week.

“This is a great honour and most rewarding for us”, said a proud Hans-Olov Olsson, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation at the award ceremony in Berlin.

“A Swedish car getting a prestigious award in the extremely tough and competitive German market, and it is especially rewarding since it is the readers of the paper who chose it the winner," said Hans-Olov Olsson.

The Volvo V50 won the estate class in the “readers category” against seven competitors. The V50 earned public praise for its attractive design, the high standard of safety, engine performance and a number of innovative solutions such as its unique Floating Centre Console.

The Volvo V50 is the second Volvo car to receive the trophy. In 2000, the then new Volvo S60 was also honoured with the Goldenes Lenkrad.