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Vauxhall Insignia wins European Car of the Year 2009

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 17 November 2008 11:32 Vauxhall/Opel has scooped the European Car of the Year gong – by a single point. The results, announced today, were another surprise in the 44-year history of CoTY, as the Insignia pipped the Ford Fiesta and pushed the VW Golf into third place. The full results for Car of the Year 2009 are: • 1st Vauxhall Insignia, 321 points• 2nd Ford Fiesta, 320 points• 3rd VW Golf, 223 points• 4th Citroen C5, 198 points• 5th Alfa Romeo Mito, 148 points• 6th Skoda Superb, 144 points• 7th Renault Megane, 121 points The win is a lift for GM, which is struggling with cashflow problems in Detroit.

Volkswagen debuts Jetta TDI Value Edition

There was already a lot to like about the diesel Volkswagen Jetta TDI CleanDiesel, most of it having to do with fewer fillups, and so for 2014 Volkswagen is debuting a new Jetta TDI Value Edition that slices more than $2,000 off the price of entry. And speaking of the price of entry, it is now $22,115 for Volkswagen's smallest diesel sedan in the U.S. Yes, it seems Volkswagen has finally created a car for automotive journalists as well as members of the biodiesel-brewing crowd who are tired of fixing old Mercedes-Benz W123 station wagons from the 1970s, though we probably have the diesel Chevrolet Cruze to thank for the appearance of this particular model.

One Lap of the Web: Rally to Goodwood, Utah raises speed limits and Jeeps in Iceland

-- Today's vehicles are more than capable of safely exceeding the speed limit. This isn't any secret to us, but apparently lawmakers are just starting to clue in; Utah has joined a slowly increasing number of states in raising some speed limits to 80 mph. Their justification?