Land Rover Discovery is Scottish Car of the Year 2009

The Association of Scottish Motoring Writers has named the Land Rover Discovery as its Scottish Car of the Year 2009. The original Land Rover Discovery was launched on the 16th November 1989; the award nearly coincided with this anniversary. ASMW President Bill Caven commented during the presentation, "4x4s remain a necessity for motoring north of the border. Being able to boldly go regardless of the weather conditions has ensured the Scots' love affair with off-roaders remains as strong as ever.

Land Rover doesn’t manufacturer vehicles that are inherently environmentally friendly but the engines in the latest Land Rover Discovery make the best of a difficult job. The 3.0-litre diesel’s more advanced technology helps it eclipse the economy and emissions to the 2.7-litre engine when it’s fitted with the automatic gearbox. It returns around 30mpg on the combined cycle and emissions of 244g/km

The Land Rover Discovery also won the SUV category. Other winners were the Volkswagen Polo (Small Car), Mazda 3 (Family), Audi A4 allroad (Executive), Ford Focus RS (Sporting), BMW Z4 (Drop Top), Citroen C3 Picasso (MPV) and Jaguar XF 3.0d (Diesel). A new Eco section which was created this year was shared by Honda for the Insight and BMW for its EfficientDynamics programme.

By Geraldine Ashton Green