Semperit Irish Car of the Year

The Continental Irish Car of the Year (previously Semperit Irish Car of the Year) award was established in 1978 based on similar Car of the Year awards. It is organised and judged by the Irish Motoring Writers Association (IMWA), a grouping of Irish motoring journalists. The award was sponsored by German tyre manufacturer Continental Tyres / Semperit. In December 2009, the title of the award was changed to Continental Irish Car of the Year, as the sponsor sought to raise the profile of the Continental Tyres brand in Ireland.

The award has five category winners, Continental Irish Small Car of the Year, Continental Irish Compact Family Car of the Year, Continental Irish Family Car of the Year, Continental Irish Executive / Luxury Car of the Year, and the Continental Irish Performance Car of the Year. It also has a "Continental Irish Van of the Year", The winner of that category for 2016 is the Mercedes-Benz Vito.

Ford has won the competition seven times, with the Ford Mondeo winning the overall title the most times for an individual model. The award for 2017 went to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, marking the first time the prestigious award has gone to the premium car maker. The awards event takes place each year, at a venue in Dublin in late November.

Cars are assessed by the twenty eight jurors on the following criteria:

The first receiver of the award was the Volkswagen Golf Diesel, when it received the inaugural award in 1978. It débuted some four years after the regular Volkswagen Golf. The second receiver, the Volkswagen Derby, was around 1½ years old when it won the award, as was the third receiver, the Fiat Ritmo. The Datsun Stanza received the award soon after its launch, while the next receiver, the Ford Escort, had been on sale since September 1980. Mercedes won the 2017 award the first time in the 40 year history of the award.

It was a similar story with the Renault 19, which was launched in 1988.

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