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Ford doubles up at 2011 inaugural "Honest John" awards
The new Ford C-MAX and Ford Mondeo are hits with "Honest John" website fans, who voted them best large family car and best people carrier respectively.
The first "Honest John" awards were decided by Honestjohn.co.uk users, based on cars prompting the most searches and inquiries on the site in the last 12 months.
Website founder "Honest John" said: "'Both the Ford Mondeo and Ford C-MAX topped their categories in the Honest John Awards with good reason, they're good to drive, well equipped, innovative and represent great value for money. As a result they're two cars that really capture the imagination of our readers."
Nigel Sharp, Ford of Britain managing director, said: "These are terrific wins for Ford's all-new C-MAX and the latest Ford Mondeo. The new C-MAX is a great edition to our medium sized vehicle line up, offering stylish and spacious practicality alongside the family-friendly seven-seat Grand C-MAX. With the introduction of new high tech 1.6 petrol and diesel engines, our Mondeo meets customers' demand for performance, comfort and refinement coupled with outstanding fuel economy."
Honestjohn.co.ukwas set up in 2000 to help consumers with advice on buying, selling and running cars. Since then "Honest John" himself has answered more than 600,000 questions, with the site receiving around 1.4 million visits per month.
The data to measure consumer interest is taken from Google Analytics which calculates the number of page views each car review has had over the previous 12 months from April 2010 to April 2011.
On-the-road prices for the Ford C-MAX start at £17,205, and all boast the maximum five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP and have Thatcham Category 1 alarm, DAB radio, Bluetooth and USB connectivity as standard.
The recently refreshed Ford Mondeo range offers 1.6-litre powertrain enhancements delivering fuel consumption up to 65.7mpg. On-the-road prices for Mondeo start at £17,705.
Ford double at 2011 Diesel Car Awards
The all-new Ford Focus and refined Mondeo have earned Ford a pair of top awards from Diesel Car magazine.
The new Ford Focus, on sale since March, was crowned best diesel medium-sized car on the market. Diesel Car evaluated the 1.6 and 2.0-litre Ford Focus TDCi models – each available in two power outputs.
Ian Robertson, Diesel Car editor, said: “The Ford Focus is quite simply the best handling, most dynamically accomplished car in its class – the one the others have to match. A new benchmark has been set for this size of car, because the bar has been raised by new Focus.”
The Ford Mondeo added a fuel efficient 65.6mpg diesel version to its range this year – producing only 114g CO2/km which ranks among the best in the medium car segment. This 1.6-litre Ford Mondeo TDCi features Auto-Start-Stop as standard and is available in both five-door and estate bodystyles.
Ian Robertson said about all diesel Mondeo models: “The Mondeo delivers driving dynamics that are second-to-none. There’s a magic about the way this car handles. It is superbly nimble and poised, with great handling and excellent steering feel that crisply communications what’s happening down there at the road surface.”
Jon Wellsman, Ford Britain sales director, said: "This is a sizeable market for Ford, with 45 per cent of Focus cars bought being diesels and 86 per cent of Mondeos. To receive independent endorsement of these cars from Diesel Car is recognition of the UK-based Ford engineers and manufacturing specialists producing these engines."
Double top for Ford in the 2011 Fleet World honours
Ford has scooped a double win at the 2011 Fleet World Honours for all-new Focus and Transit.
Ford's all-new Focus won Fleet World's Safety Award for its high level of standard and optional equipment aimed at keeping occupants and other road users safe.
Fleet World Editor, Steve Moody, said: “Ford’s new Focus is littered with safety aids that previously were only available on executive cars, ensuring that company car drivers will have their tiredness monitored, be warned of drifting out of lanes and never miss anything in their blind spot. On top of these systems, it comes with an automatic low-speed braking system, all for only £750, while standard items such as Bluetooth hands-free ensure this is one of the safest cars on the road today.”
The Ford Transit was awarded Best Medium Van in the 2011 Van Fleet World Honours. Its renowned and proven durability coupled with ever-improving efficiency for fleet operators and strong residual values sealed the win for the market best seller.
Commenting on the win, Ford commercial vehicle director, Steve Clary, said: “This is a great win for the Transit in the year when we’re upgrading to Euro Stage 5 emissions standard engines which will save fleet operators well over £1,000 per van in fuel costs over 80,000 miles compared to the previous version. On top of this the new Transits see their service interval increased to two years/30,000 miles which will save fleets even more money.”
John Kendall, Van Fleet World Editor, added: “When the first Transit was launched some 46 years ago, its manufacturer can’t have imagined that it would go on to be the best selling van in the UK ever since. The legend lives on and this year at the CV Show, new low-emission models were announced, a SuperSport Van concept was shown, while the revised model due later this year should be cheaper to run.”
The Fleet World Honours are presented annually to those motor manufacturers, service companies and individuals who have, in the opinion of the judges, achieved the highest possible level of excellence in their sector.
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