The Volkswagen Golf has been named the ACFO Car of the Year.

It gained the award thanks to its "reputation for delivering operational performance, wholelife cost control and driver appeal as well as an appealing environmental benefit".

The Golf follows the Vauxhall Astra (2005 and 2006 winner) and Ford Focus (2004 winner) in winnign the title.

Meanwhile, the Ford Transit Connect and the Ford Transit. The Transit Connect has been named Fleet Light Van of the Year for the fifth time while, for the 13th year in succession, the Transit is ACFO’s Fleet Panel Van of the Year.

ACFO chairman Julie Jenner said: “These awards represent the true face of fleet operations, rather than showroom appeal. Once again, voting by ACFO members was highly competitive with more car models than usual gaining numbers of votes, thereby further underlining the increasing flexibility of company car choice lists to meet the many forms of fleet demand. A similar picture came across in the voting patterns for the two van categories.”

The awards will be presented to the relevant manufacturers at a dinner to be held on November 28.