Middle East Aston Martin wins 'Car of the Year' award for its V8 Vantage Sportshift

Stefan Spruck, Director of Al Ghaith Group of Companies, which includes Middle East Aston Martin, said: "Receiving the two awards for the V8 Vantage Sportshift recognises not only the excellent product developed by Aston Martin, but is also a direct reflection of the outstanding efforts of Thomas Kastgen, CEO, Middle East Aston Martin and his team to build the brand in the Middle East through exceptional marketing activities and unparalleled customer & dealer relations management."

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Sportshift took the prestigious overall Car of the Year accolade after CAR ME judges spent 12 grueling months driving over 350 cars, over a combined distance of 250,000km, before finally whittling down the entries to a total of 20 winners across five separate categories....along with the Car of the Year award.

The magazine differentiated its awards from others in the market by focusing on luxury, lifestyle and performance motoring and selected cars on the following criteria: desirability; style/image; driver involvement; innovation/engineering; quality; market positioning and relevance to the Middle East market.

Promising a completely unbiased and genuine process of carefully considered selection, one of six judges, Noel Ebdon, Contributing Editor, CAR Middle East, said of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Sportshift: "Superstar looks, sensational performance, now combined with everyday usability, puts this gorgeous baby Aston at the top of the judges' lists!"

Aston Martin first unveiled the V8 Vantage Coupe in 2005 with first customer deliveries made later that year. First shown as a concept car at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Vantage caused a worldwide sensation as it allows Aston Martin to enter a new sector of the premium sports car market with a genuine alternative to other cars that are currently on offer.

Described as "the more affordable" Aston Martin, its design and agility helped widen Aston Martin's appeal, taking the company into a new sector of the market and attracting younger customers to the marque whilst retaining all the hand-built bespoke attributes for which Aston Martin is renowned.

The Vantage is offered with two transmission alternatives. As standard is the fast-shifting, six-speed Graziano conventional stick-shift manual gearbox, with ratios perfectly matched to the performance of the V8 engine.

This is joined by Aston Martin's new Sportshift automated manual transmission - an ultra-quick system that provides the driver with heightened precision via fingertip control of gear changes using paddles to progress smoothly and swiftly through the ratios and the transmission alternative that caught the attention of the judges.