The Citroen C4 Picasso has been voted Continental Irish Car of the Year for 2014 by the Irish Motoring Writers Association. The winner was revealed at an awards ceremony in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin, in front of an audience largely made up of motor industry representatives.

The Citroen C4 Picasso received 377 votes from the Irish Motoring Writers' Association (IMWA) jurors, ahead of the VW Golf (364 votes) and the Mazda6 (327 votes). It is the third time that Citroen has taken the overall Continental Irish Car of the Year title, after the Citroen Xsara (1998) and the Citroen C5 (2009).

Members of the IMWA awarded their votes on the basis of key criteria including safety, equipment level, fuel economy, comfort, practicality, ride and road-holding.

The trophy was presented to Frederic Soulier, Managing Director of Citroen Ireland, by Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland, who commented: "The Citroen C4 Picasso is an outstanding car and a worthy winner of our main award. It combines excellent driving qualities with a range of truly impressive technologies, and is a credit to everyone connected with Citroen."

Gerry Murphy, Chairman if the Irish Motoring Writers' Association said: "This is the biggest day of the year for the IMWA and the Irish Motor Industry. We take the selection of the Continental Irish Car of Year very seriously and I am delighted for everyone at Citroen that the democratic votes of the members of the IMWA have chosen the Citroen C4 Picasso as the Continental Irish Car of the Year for 2104. It is a car that has impressed many of our members and it is a worthy winner."

In addition to the overall award, five other category winners were also announced:

Continental Irish Small Car of the Year                               Peugeot 2008

Continental Irish Compact Family Car of the Year            Citroen C4 Picasso

Continental Irish Family Car of the Year                             Mazda6

Continental Irish Executive / Luxury Car of the Year         Range Rover

Continental Irish Performance Car of the Year                Volkswagen Golf GTI