The Suzuki Swift has been voted Irish Car of the Year 2006 by the Irish Motoring Writers Association.

The announcement was made at an awards ceremony today in the Berkeley Court Hotel. The results were as follows:

1: Suzuki Swift 119 points
2: VW Passat 86 points
3: Range Rover Sport 75 points
4: Citroën C4 64 points
5: Toyota Aygo 61 points

The Irish Motoring Writers Association judges awarded points on the basis of criteria ranging from innovation to safety to space, comfort, build quality, driving quality and value for money.

The Swift succeeds the Ford Focus, which took the title last year.

The van of the year title was awarded to the Citroen C4.