Jaguar topples BMW to become the SME Company Car of the Year
- UK Built XE and XF Models win top honours
Jaguar XE named SME Company Car of the Year
Jaguar XF voted Best SME Director's Car
Independent SME Company Car of the Year Awards run by Business Car Manager
Supported by Fleet Alliance, an award winning supplier of company car leasing to SMEs
The British-built, Jaguar XE is the Business Car Manager SME Company Car of the Year Awards 2016. The manufacturer also took the Award for Best Large SME Company Car and Best Director's SME Company Car.
Supported by Fleet Alliance, an award-winning supplier of company car leasing to SMEs, The SME Company Car of the Year identifies the best cars, and the best company car programmes available for the SME business sector.
The judging panel were impressed by the recently launched Jaguar XE's focus on driving down cost of ownership and company car taxation while still retaining sporty looks and appeal by the bucket load with its 71.7mpg combined fuel economy and CO2 emissions of just 99 g/km.
The Jaguar XE 2.0d R-Sport 163PS model was also judged the Best Large SME Company Car
Chair of the judging panel, Paul Hollick, chairman of the Institute of Car Fleet Management and commercial director of The Miles Consultancy, said: "The Panel were impressed by the new XE's focus on low CO2 and fuel consumption figures, combined with sporty looks. Despite the low running costs and tax bills, this XE is a proper Jaguar with an equally high level of driver satisfaction and real company car appeal. The Jaguar XE is a genuine match for the best driving compact executive rivals.
The independent judging also recognised the XE's bigger sibling with the Jaguar XF being voted the and Best Director's SME Company Car.
In winning the 2.0-litre R-Sport 180PS Auto XF version XF has impressive fuel efficiency (65.7mpg) with 114g/km CO2 emissions and a company car tax of as little as £1,472 per year. Despite the improvements to the CO2 and fuel consumption figures, the XF 2.0d R-Sport auto, has all the performance you'd expect of a Jaguar, said the judges, with acceleration from 0-62mph takes just 7.7 seconds and the top speed is 136mph.
Awards chairman Paul Hollick added: "The XF wins, great price, good design and desirable. And it's not just the efficient engine and high levels of standard kit that impresses. The new XF is a match for the BMW 5-Series with its keen drive, communicative steering and sharp handling, which all adds up to explaining why the new XF is our top Director's SME Company Car choice."
The full list of winners in Business Car Manager SME Company Car of the Year Awards is:
Best Value SME Company Car: Mercedes C 350e PHEV Sport Auto Saloon
Best Compact SME Company Car: MINI 1.5 Cooper D 5dr Hatch
Best Large SME Company Car: Jaguar XE 2.0d R-Sport 163PS
Best Director's SME Company Car: Jaguar XF 2.0d R-Sport 180PS Auto
Best Green SME Company Car: Audi A3 Sportback e-tron
Best SME Company Car Programme: BMW Business Partnership
Best SME After Sales Programme: Hyundai
Special recognition award - Volvo's SME Co-Pilot programme
Ralph Morton, editorial director of Business Car Manager, concluded: "It's critical that small businesses and SME firms running company cars get the expert help that they require. These Awards highlight the best cars as well as company car and support programmes to make life easier for the SME director charged with looking after the company car programme."
The SME Company Car of the Year Awards were judged by an independent panel of experts:
Paul Hollick, commercial director of The Miles Consultancy (TMC), and chairman of the Institute of Car Fleet Management (ICFM) - chair of the judges.
Martin Brown, managing director, Fleet Alliance
Steve Cocks, director broker division, Lex Autolease
Andy Brown, managing director, CD Auction Group
Colin Tourick, Grant Thornton professor of automotive management, University of Buckingham
Jonathan Burn, deputy news editor, Auto Express
Jim McNally, head of asset risk, Alphabet
Robert Wastell, divisional managing director, Hitachi Capital Car Solutions
Business Car Manager provides authoritative company car advice and information for SMEs with over 500,000 annual unique visitors to the business motoring information portal.
Full details of the Business Car Manager SME Company Car of the Year Awards 2016 can be found at: http://www.businesscarmanager.co.uk/category/cars-reviews/best-company-cars/sme-company-car-of-the-year-awards-2016/.
Contact:
Ralph Morton, editor
07970 165 328