Ford’s S-Max was picked as the 'Car of the Year 2007' by a panel of 58 of Europe’s top motoring journalists, beating out Citroën’s C4 Picasso, Fiat’s Grande Punto and the Volvo C30 hatch among others. The result is reflected in the success the S-Max has been experiencing since its launch in April 2006. Over half of the S-Max vehicles built have been delivered to customers who are new to Ford, and that 60 percent of customers are ordering the range-topping “Titanium” model.

The S-Max was mostly praised for being one of the safest cars on the market with a class-leading five star rating for adult occupant protection under the Euro NCAP crash test protocol. New active safety technologies also feature on the S-Max, including Adaptive Cruise Control with Forward Alert, Collision Mitigation by Braking and a new Interactive Vehicle Dynamics active suspension system.

Ford has continuously done very well in the European competition. The S-Max is actually the company’s fifth vehicle to win the prestigious award, with the original Ford Focus last collecting the award in 1999. Before that there was the 1993 Ford Mondeo, 1985 Ford Scorpio, and the 1981 Ford Escort. It's just another reason why Ford should continue to tap the resources of its highly innovative European division.

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