Mark Adams, Vice President, Vauxhall/Opel Design, accepted Scottish Car of the Year (SCOTY) from Alasdair Suttie, President of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW). Astra won the family car category, the diesel Astra the Eco award and Viva was named best compact car. Corsa and Corsa VXR were runners-up in SCOTY’s Supermini and Hot-Hatch categories.

Scotland is important to Vauxhall. It has been the biggest-selling manufacturer in the country for seven years, Corsa the best-seller for six so it’s no coincidence to find Vauxhall sponsoring the national football team. Adams said, “We’re extremely proud that the Astra is the 2015 Scottish Car of the Year, glad we’ve been able to repay its loyalty by delivering a car that will appeal in so many ways.”

Left to right with the winning cars’ quaichs: Mike Thomas, Assistant Plant Director Ellesmere Port, Nancy Thomas, Beth Katuszka Vauxhall Product Affairs, Melanie Adams, Mark Adams, Leon Caruso Vauxhall Retail Sales Director, Denis Chick Director Communications, Simon Hucknall Manager Product Communications, and Zoe Peacock Press Fleet Manager. Caruso said, “Winning SCOTY gives us a huge boost and our retailers in the region will be delighted with the success this will bring.”

SCOTY is a highlight of the Dove Publishing calendar, strikingly last year with the ASMW’s generous honour of the President’s Trophy to the Editorial Director. This year’s event, organised by Ally and Lorraine Ballingall, was another ringing success with industry bigwigs flocking to the Marriott Dalmahoy, Edinburgh for a party that went on until the wee sma’ hours. Until, in fact, men arrived to dismantle the elaborate set into which the winning Astra drove at the height of the evening’s ceremony. (Below: Caruso, Suttie and Dalmahoy)