UK COTY - CITY CAR - Twingo wins another car of the Year award, so it must be fairly good !

• Another ‘City Car of the Year’ award for Renault’s smallest model
• Judged by 27 of the UK’s most influential motoring writers
• UKCOTY provides authoritative, independent advice to buyers
• New Twingo described as “chic”, “a cracker”, “neat” and “funky”
• Twingo available in five versions priced from £9,495

The ingenious new Renault Twingo has claimed a second prestigious consumer award in the UK within less than six months of going on sale. It has been named ‘City Car of the Year’ in the UK Car of the Year Awards (UKCOTY). This follows hot on the heels of being named ‘City Car of the Year’ in the 2014 TopGearMagazine Awards.

John Challen, Managing Director of the UK Car of the Year Awards, and Editor of ukcoty.co.uk, said of the Twingo: “Renault returns to the city car segment with a cracker. Fun to drive, surprisingly spacious inside and brave enough to try a novel approach to vehicle engineering in this sector.”

Citations from other judges included: “small, cute, nicely packaged and interesting” (Tom Ford), “full of neat design touches that elevate this car above the competition” (Guy Bird) and “the most fun and funky car in its class” (Paul Hudson).

Ken Ramirez, Managing Director, Renault UK, commented: “The All-New Twingo stands out amongst a competitive city car category thanks to its stunning design and made-for-city agility from the innovative rear-engined layout. We expected the latest Twingo to be a popular addition to the market, so it’s great to know the UK Car of the Year Awards panel agrees. To win ‘City Car of the Year’ is a fantastic achievement and one that everyone at Renault can be very proud of.”

The UK Car of the Year Awards are in only their second year, but have already become established as an essential, informed guide to help consumers make the right buying decisions, whatever their requirements. The judging panel is made up of 27 independent, influential motoring journalists who assess more than 100 new cars to produce winners in 12 categories, from which one overall champion is chosen.

The judges include Tom Ford of TopGear, Mike Brewer of Wheeler Dealers and Richard Bremner. All are experts in their field, ensuring that car buyers get the most authoritative and comprehensive advice, regardless of the type of car they are considering.

The new five-door, four-seater Twingo went on sale in September 2014, priced from £9,495. Its highly unusual rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout allows it to be both compact and spacious. Because the engine is mounted at an angle of 49 degrees to the vertical, the Twingo still manages to provide a capacious boot of between 219 and 980 litres (seats folded) while delivering excellent crash protection to passengers if hit from the rear. Another highly beneficial effect of the mechanical layout is the class-leading turning circle of less than 8.6 metres, because the movement of the front wheels is not restricted by the engine.

The new Twingo is available in five versions, powered by a choice of two three-cylinder engines – a 1.0-litre 70hp normally aspirated unit or a 0.9-litre 90hp turbo. Both endow the Twingo with outstanding athleticism to match its agile, nimble handling, and at the same time they are extremely efficient: fuel economy is up to 67.3mpg, with CO₂ emissions as low as 95g/km.

The Twingo is fully connected to the outside world through the smartphone-operated R & GO^® feature or Renault’s R-Link multimedia system with seven-inch touch-screen, and offers a huge range of personalisation options so that buyers can create virtually a bespoke car.