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BRENTWOOD, England – The Ford C-MAX range has celebrated surging sales by picking up its first award from the UK’s BusinessCar magazine.
The five-seat C-MAX and its seven-seat Grand C-MAX sibling attracted accolades from BusinessCar readers in recognition of their style, efficiency and practicality.
In their first full year on sale, almost 19,000 C-MAX models were sold last year in the UK, compared with
8,357 the prior year. This success meant C-MAX constituted almost one in five of all compact MPVs registered in the UK last year – up from 7.6 per cent in 2010.
There was also good news at the BusinessCar awards for Ford’s larger S-MAX, which was declared best MPV for the sixth year running. Launched in 2006, S-MAX has won the title every year since.
BusinessCar editor Paul Barker said: "Ford has deservedly taken both MPV awards thanks to a pair of products that successfully combine practicality and efficiency with a sense of style not previously available in a sector aimed squarely at family transport.
"Both the C-MAX and S-MAX offer good running costs as well as great handling and are deserved winners of this award, decided by the readers of BusinessCar – the very people using these products for their businesses and their company drivers."
Kevin Griffin, Ford of Britain fleet director, welcomed the awards: “Our new C-MAX proves that even in an extremely competitive market and difficult economy, customers respond to great new vehicles.”
The seven-seat Grand C-MAX accounts for 40 per cent of overall C-MAX volumes in the UK.
Further recognition for Ford’s new MPV range came from Carbuzz.co.uk, which ranked the five-seat C-MAX first, with Grand C-MAX fourth and S-MAX fifth. “The C-Max is the best handling car in its class, the steering is precise and well-weighted, while plenty of grip and minimal lean means the C-MAX belies its bulk,” said Carbuzz (
www.carbuzz.co.uk/blog/Best-MPV).