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.
