Skoda superb makes it a hat-trick in the Private Hire category 

1 Skoda Superb

2 Ford Mondeo

3 Volkswagen Passat

4 Toyota Avensis

                                     5 Toyota Prius

The bookies weren’t taking bets on this one. The Skoda Superb scored a convincing win in the Private Hire Car of the Year class for the third year running, ahead, once again, of the eternal bridesmaid, the Ford Mondeo. 

The Private Hire sector loves the Skoda Superb – probably more than Skoda loves the Private Hire sector, as the car seems to be in perpetual short supply. But nothing comes close to the Superb, which scored consistently highly across all judging criteria.

It’s comfortable, drives well and offers fuel economy that is up among the best in the class. But the Superb’s invincibility comes from what goes on behind the driver’s seat - a combination of class-leading rear legroom and a cavernous loadspace. The Superb is based on a genuine long-wheelbase platform (it’s derived from a China-market VW Passat LWB), and until something comes along with comparable rear passenger comfort, the Skoda looks unlikely to be toppled in this class.

Mondeo remains an excellent contender – but even a tidy facelift this year and some highly impressive safety technology doesn’t give it enough clout to overtake the Superb. It is a big, roomy car though – don’t forget that the current Mondeo is bigger in every dimension than the much-missed Ford Scorpio of the 1990s.

In bronze medal spot came the new Volkswagen Passat. A strong debut for the facelifted VW, which looks impressive and retains the old model’s excellent driveability. It is a little bland though, and it doesn’t match its Skoda Superb cousin for rear seat space. It’s clear which VW group product is still the Private Hire king.

Toyota fills the other two top 5 spots, with the roomy Avensis outgunning the popular Prius hybrid. For all its popularity among eco-chauffeurs – and we reckon there must be almost 1,000 Prius some form of taxi use in Greater London alone – it loses points for comfort and refinement. Toyota needs to recongise how successful the Prius has been in our market, and specify the car accordingly, or else it’ll lose ground to new, equally “green” market entrants in the future.

New Sharan edges out Galaxy in the battle of the executive MPVs

1 Volkswagen Sharan

2 Ford Galaxy

3 Mercedes-Benz Viano

                                     4 Volkswagen Caravelle

                                     5 Chevrolet Orlando

They used to be built side-by-side, sharing almost everything except their badges. But the Ford Galaxy and Volkswagen Sharan are now intense rivals in the large MPV sector – so this was always going to be a close battle. 

For the past two years, Ford has had this market – and this award – to itself, reflecting the strong performance of the Galaxy in the private hire and executive chauffeuring market. But the arrival late last year of an all-new Sharan meant the Ford people-mover had a powerful new rival that threatened to steal its crown – and that’s just what happened.

The two cars were very close – but ultimately the Sharan’s slightly larger dimensions and lower running costs edged the day. The judges liked the Sharan’s electric sliding doors – always a good feature for chauffeuring – indeed, rear seat access and luggage space in seven-seat mode was superior to the Ford. The result will be a major fillip for VW, which couldn’t persuade market-leading Private Hire operatior Addison Lee to switch its 1,200-vehicle MPV order from Galaxy to Sharan.

The biggest challenge to this “big two” came from the two biggest vehicles that were up for consideration - the Mercedes Viano and the Volkswagen Caravelle. Both were presented in LWB guise, and their massive ability to carry seven passengers and their luggage won strong praise from the judges. The fact that the Viano is available on the Mercedes Chauffeur Programme helped it stay ahead of the Caravelle, which won praise for its roominess, comfort and build quality.

Completing the top five was an impressive debutant, the Chevrolet Orlando. Techically a compact MPV in the Scenic/Zafira class, it nevertheless impressed thanks to its extremely roomy rear and massive rear door access. It’s keenly priced too, and could prove to be a real success as a PHV.

BMW 530d Grand Tourer retains the Executive crown

1 BMW 535d GT

2 Jaguar XF

3 Audi A6

4 Mercedes-Benz E250

                                     5 BMW 520d

It’s different – and to some commentators, it’s “Marmite”. You either love the BMW 530d Grand Tourer, or you hate it. Fortunately for BMW, the chauffeur market is starting to fall in love with the unusual, innovative car – and it retained the crown it claimed on debut last year.

The 5GT’s looks are still the biggest bone of contention – but even those who don’t like the taller, more upright stance of the car compared to the regular 5-series can’t fail to be impressed by its sheer usability.

There’s so much room in the back – it combines the legroom of a standard-wheelbase 7-series with the headroom of an X5 sports-utility. And fit and finish is every bit as good as that of the 7-series. Add in a commanding and comfortable driving position, a brilliant sat-nav system and flexible twin-door tailgate/boot lid and the 5GT’s a hell of a package.

And on top of that, it’s available with keen pricing as part of the BMW chauffeur programme – the monthly lease price more than cancels out the relatively high list price. The only improvement we’d suggest is a 520dGT version, combining the 2-litre diesel of the 5-series saloon with the GT body. That would be some package.

The big 2011 newcomer, the Audi A6, performed creditably. Most of the judges were impressed with its ‘mini A8’ style, though it lost out to the 5GT in terms of rear seat space, and some judges felt the new car’s styling wasn’t that great a departure from the old A6. It’s on the excellent Audi chauffeur programme, though, and this ensured that it finished ahead of its main rivals, the BMW 520d and the Mercedes-Benz E250.

But this wasn’t enough to grab second spot, held by Jaguar’s newly-facelifted XF. This car again won vast heaps of praise for its driveability, finish and styling. Where it falls down is in the back seat – the legroom is acceptable, but the roof feels low. Some judges simply felt the car wasn’t suitable as a chauffeur car – though we think it’s OK – just not the class of the field.

BMW 730Ld reclaims its crown in the closest category of all

1 BMW 730Ld

2 Audi A8L

3 Jaguar XJL

4 Mercedes S350

                                     5 Lexus LS600hL

Chauffeur Car is always the most closely-fought category of the Professional Driver Car of the Year Awards, and2011’s battle was no exception. Only a handful of points separated the top five – but when all factors had been taken into account, there was a clear winner. The BMW 730Ld reclaimed the crown it won in 2009, but lost last year to the Jaguar XJL.

All the virtues that so impressed our judges two years ago haven’t gone away – the car offers an exceptional mix of comfort, rear-seat luxury and driveability. And since 2009, the 7-series has been improved, with better fuel economy now above 40mpg combined. And crucially, it’s part of a beefed-up chauffeur programme that makes it much more affordable on a lease basis than either the Jaguar or the Mercedes S350.

BMW’s chauffeur programme needs to be good to stay ahead of the runner up. Splitting our last two winners was the 2011 debutant, the new Audi A8L. Comfort and good looks won praise for the car – though there were reservations about the boot space, and an over-zealous stop/start system didn’t go down well. 

In its favour is a class-leading chauffeur programme – the monthly pricing is excellent, and Audi is the only manufacturer to offer a like-for-like replacement licensed car anywhere in the UK, not just in London. But this wasn’t enough to take the top prize from the 7-series, which was simply the best car on the day.

The Jaguar XJL fell to third – the sheer novelty of the car that propelled it to the prize last year has perhaps worn off. But it has made an impact – several of our chauffeur judges turned up in one! But like the fourth-placed Mercedes S-Class, familiarity is perhaps breeding contempt. Against both of these cars are relatively high lease costs on the respective chauffeur programmes compared to the Audi and BMW rivals.