The people's cars: readers vote for Touareg and Golf GTI in Auto Trader and Autocar awards respectively

June 9, 2021 by Volkswagen

• Touareg's reputation as a highly capable tow car is recognised with prestigious Auto Trader title

•Golf GTI's long-held status as the ultimate all-rounder gets the seal of approval again from Autocar's readers

•Hot hatchback icon picks up its second Readers' Champion award from the publication's audience in four years

Milton Keynes – The Volkswagen Touareg and Golf GTI have both won impressive titles in separate, prestigious awards ceremonies voted for by the public, praising each model in an area for which it has long been renowned. For the Touareg luxury SUV, the model's towing prowess was celebrated in the Auto Trader New Car Awards, taking the title of Best Car for Towing, while the Golf GTI collected its second Autocar Readers' Champion Award for its sheer all-round appeal and driver focus.

At the Auto Trader New Car Awards, the Touareg scooped the Best Car For Towing title, with owners highlighting the model's safety features, practicality and comfort, as well as its smooth 3.0-litre V6 TDI engine. As a luxury SUV, Auto Trader readers also picked out the Touareg's opulence, design and commanding driving position as desirable characteristics.

Of particular praise was the Touareg's Trailer Assist system. Special note was made to one of its intuitive features, which temporarily repurposes the door mirror adjustment joystick to control the steering angle and guide the trailer, taking the unpredictability out of reversing with a trailer, and leaving the challenging part of this task to the Toaureg.

The Auto Trader New Car Awards 2021 were voted for by over 148,000 UK car buyers, meaning the results and titles reflect genuine consumer feedback. This even further cements the Touareg's reputation as a bona-fide towing car talent, with multiple towing-related gongs already in the cabinet, decided by the public as well as by expert judging panels.

A range of powerful V6 engines – both petrol and diesel – for the standard range, as well as a powerful plug-in hybrid R model, combined with built-in qualities of comfort, practicality, usability and dependability, mean that the Touareg has all the hallmarks of a towing car hero. While power and flexibility are key strengths highlighted by judging panels for the large SUV, it is the model's all-round appeal that is key to its towing car appeal.

At the prestigious Autocar Awards, held online yesterday, another public vote was won by the Golf GTI. The iconic hot hatchback brought home the title of the Readers' Champion as part of a dream three-car garage challenge put to the publication's audience. The three categories represent the ultimate three-car combination, with 'Just for Fun', and 'Wildcard' categories, and the category in which the Golf GTI triumphed – 'Daily Driver' – together comprising 'the ultimate collection of cars that would serve your every motoring need', according to the publication.

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Autocar readers pinned the Golf GTI as their Daily Driver of choice, opting for the model equipped with a 6-speed manual gearbox for the category. This latest trophy from Autocar is the second time that the Golf GTI has won the publication's Readers' Champion award, having previously been presented with the title in 2017, again, by the voting readers of Autocar.

Mark Tisshaw, Editor of Autocar, said: 'The Golf was the clear winner of the daily driver category, and with good reason. When you want a well-honed all-rounder Wolfsburg's finest remains the car of choice. 'Daily driver' absolutely isn't a pejorative term: this will be the member of your three car garage that you'll likely spend the most time in, calling for a car that offers comfort, refinement and practicality – while still being fun to drive.

'As a daily driver, the Golf sits perfectly balanced in the very centre of the UK car market. It's big enough for a family, but small enough to actually fit on tight British city streets. It's upmarket enough to feel special and a little bit polished, but mainstream enough to feel relaxing and comforting.'

Andrew Savvas, Director at Volkswagen UK, said: 'Awards from expert panels are always appreciated, and let us know that the work we're doing is hitting the spot with consumers. But accolades like these, where the public votes for our cars, are all the more satisfying.

'The Golf GTI is the consummate all-rounder, which is why it has reached icon status among car fans, and why it was the first car the voting public thought of as Autocar's Daily Driver. Meanwhile, the Touareg's sheer capability, both as a tow car and as a luxury SUV in its own right, make it formidable competition in most categories, but the model's trailer-friendly talents have been a hit with expert panels, as well as the readers of Auto Trader, who together judge it to be the best car for towing.'