The Denver Auto Show has a standing tradition of having an awards ceremony for the manufacturers, a ceremony that AllSmallCars.com has been covering four its third year in a row. The awards are sponsored and conceived by the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press (RMAP), an organization of professional automotive journalists in the Rocky Mountain region. RMAP has a number of awards from New/Redesigned Car of the Year to Best SUV of the Year to Highest Mileage Car of the Year. This year it was a close race, but there was only one small car that took home the 2011 High Mileage Car of the Year award—2011 Ford Fiesta.

Now if you are wondering why the 2011 Toyota Prius didn’t win the award or perhaps the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, that is because each year the RMAP members vote on what cars to nominate for the award and the criteria is that they have to be in the Press fleet in the Rocky Mountain region and be the majority vote by the members. In other words, the Prius could very well have been on the nomination list, but this year the 40-mpg Ford Fiesta has brought home the award for the Ford Motor Company. The RMAP award is a testament to the impact the 2011 Ford Fiesta has had on the automotive industry. It also continues to raise the bar of quality and innovation for the compact car market as a car that has double-digit class-exclusive features.

Bottom-line—the 2011 Ford Fiesta is great value for the money and even though the EPA has official rated it at 40-mpg highway, there are reports that you can eek out more than that if you are skilled in hypermiling techniques.

 The 2011 Denver Auto Show runs from March 30th to April 3rd at the Colorado Convention Center. Be sure to check out all the AllSmallCars.com coverage of the 2011 Denver Auto Show by clicking here. Show information available at DenverAutoShow.com.

 

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