"This award crowns a series of international successes for the Tiguan since its market launch. The Tiguan represents an important element in Volkswagen's global growth strategy. I view this trophy, not least, as confirmation that we are on the right path with our products," Dr Ulrich Hackenberg said before an audience of more than 500 guests.

The awarding of the 17th "Auto 1 of Europe" prize was preceded by an unparalleled voting process. First, some 40 million readers of the 26 European issues of Auto Bild voted for their respective national winners. The Swiss vote, for one, gave clear preference to the Tiguan. The readers were also asked to name their favourites in six different vehicle categories. The three best-placed cars in each class were then put through their paces at a testing ground near Rome to determine the winner in each class. At this stage of the competition, the jury consisted of race-car drivers, technicians and senior editors. The Tiguan won the contest on points, clearly outperforming the competition.

This is just the latest in a whole series of successes for the Tiguan. In November 2007, the Volkswagen SUV was awarded the "Auto Trophy", having previously received the "Golden Steering Wheel" prize only a few weeks earlier.

In the meantime, at the recent Melbourne Motor Show, the Next Car Editor, Stephen Walker, named the new Volkswagen Tiguan as 'the' car of the show.