22 November 2001: The Renault Laguna II is the Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2002.

It won 114 points in the competiton run by the Irish Motoring Writers Association, and was closely followed by the Ford Mondeo with 109 points. The Citroen C5 was third, and joint fourth went to the Alfa Romeo 147 and the Honda Civic.

Accepting the award, chairman of Renault Distributors Bill Cullen said the ‘winners in the society we are living in now will be those who look after their customers’. He also paid tribute to Patrick Le Quemant, who designed the Laguna II, and said it was the style which won the competition for ‘a strong vehicle’.

He paid tribute to his colleagues in Renault, particularly Jerr Nolan, MD of Renault Distributors, who he said, was the ‘architect of all we have achieved’.

The award was presented by Brian Smith of Continental Tyres, the parent company of Semperit.

Chairman of the IMWA Kevin Fenix also noted that it was an historical occasion in the 25-year history of the association, that the same manufacturer had won both Irish Car of the Year and Irish Van of the Year in the same year.

The Semperit Irish Van of the Year 2002 was jointly awarded to the Renault Trafic and Opel Vivaro, a joint venture product of the two companies.

Pictured below are a happy Bill Cullen and Jerr Nolan of Renault Distributors.