The 'inaugural European Car of The Award panel of judges had chosen their winner for a year that had yet to come by. The ECOTY 2009 Award landed on the new Opel Insignia, a very important model for Opel/Vauxhall and of course GM. The selection was intense as Insignia narrowly won by 1 vote, of which landed the excellent Ford Fiesta in 2nd place, and the new Volkswagen Golf landed in third. Perhaps given the looks of it, everyone would've thought this is one hell of a competitor to the likes of 3-Series or Audi A4, however it starts at a mere 17,000 Euro, and competes with the likes of Toyota Avensis, in fact a specced up Peugeot 307 would've cost more than this Insignia, thus showing everyone how determined Opel was in wanting to create an affordable sedan that sets itself apart from current competitors. The real question is :" Will you base your buying decision on a Car of The Year that belongs to a company on the brink of bankruptcy?
Here's the deal guys, we started off as an automotive industry magazine that talks about anything remotely associated with cars. The subprime crisis, the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Tohoku Earthquake are all world issues affecting the automotive industry.
Not only the face of what's happening on a global scale, we delve deep into the auto-journalism ethics, criticizing the increasingly mundane automotive advertising industry, we explained how America's dwindling confidence and rising sense of inferiority complex gave rise and ultimately fueled the media in propagating hatred towards Toyota.
In short, we're serious towards the automotive industry, our scope and depth is what makes us who we are, and we believe there are a lot more aspects towards which we can continue explore with the magazine when it comes to all things automotive. From the wider perspectives covering technological, sociological or even geopolitical, to inner workings of the trends and traits of design and advertising of cars, towards the human aspects that shapes the very cars we drive day in and out.
And this, is the reason why we decide to give the magazine a bump, a revamp into Wheels Weekly: Live Life Drive. Before that comes though, we will be launching an inaugural celebration issue where we chronicle the best of Wheels Weekly. We can't wait, we hope you too.