Harriet wins final vote and is named “The People’s Reviewer”

Harriet Gore has been crowned the first-ever Volkswagen Tiguan People’s Reviewer. The 33-year-old children’s charity worker from Preston edged out rivals Johnny Hindle and Eric Banton to claim the title in the tight online vote. Turnout was very strong as the contestants successfullyleveraged their online network of friends and well-wishers via Twitter, Facebook and other social media venues (plus local media and old-fashioned pamphleteering too) to tirelessly get out the vote.

For Harriet, the work is just beginning. She has promised to drive the Tiguan clear across Europe to Romania. There, she tells us, she will donate the Tiguan to the good people of Romanian Relief, a charity dedicated to helping under privileged children and families in Romania.

Johnny and Eric should be commended for their exhaustive efforts as well. Both contestants won their heats earlier in the summer in style, moving on to the finals at the end of August. For his final task, Johnny took the Tiguan on a little off-roading, sheep-rustling adventure. The Dorset native got a bit dirty down on the farm, but seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day out on the farm. Eric, meanwhile, tested the acceleration, handling and braking action of the Tiguan on the world renowned Silverstone racetrack. Eric, hailing from North London, even managed to maintain perfect control of the Tiguan in a simulated "black ice" skidding exercise on Silverstone’s famed "kick plate" track. Harriet, meanwhile, took the Tiguan on a spin through Oxford on a type of scavenger-hunt style tour of the historic city. Once there, she had to give a string quartet and all their instruments a lift to the train station.

The Tiguan People’s Reviewer contest started in June with the mission of finding a member of the public to serve as a straight-talking automotive reviewer for the Tiguan. From more than 1,000 entries across Britain, Volkswagen whittled the field down to nine contestants who were then filmed taking the Tiguan through its paces around the streets, highways and back lanes of the UK. After a series of online votes, the public selected the three finalists, Harriet, Johnny and Eric. In the final stage, Harriet garnered the most votes to become that straight-talking reviewer Volkswagen Tiguan seeks.

Well done to the finalists and all the reviewers.