Ford S-MAX

16th March 2007

Ford's MPV was named Auto 1 Champion of Europe at a glittering Geneva gala, which was attended by bosses of all the major marques. The S-MAX made the final after being nominated by Auto Express readers in our poll last November. It then went forward to a European shoot-out against the other top cars in its class, before progressing to the final against five other sector champs.

This took place at the Bridge­stone Test Track in Rome, Italy, and was conducted by the editors in chief from the Auto Bild group of magazines - including Auto Express - plus technicians and top inter­na­tional racing drivers. After the votes were counted, the S-MAX was the clear winner, with Lexus's hybrid GS450h in second position and the BMW 3-Series Coupé in third.

Ford boss Roelant de Waard also collected a trophy for the S-MAX at the Geneva show from Auto Express editor in chief David Johns on behalf of UK readers.

As well as taking the runners-up spot, the Lexus received an innovation award for its Advanced Obstacle Detec­tion system.

Tell us about your car in our Driver Power survey.