An electric car of the year winner? Leaf it out.

I wish I’d put money on the Nissan Leaf taking the European Car of the Year prize. Somehow the Nissan always looked like a strong contender simply because its technology is fashionable.

Interestingly, if you look at the voting grid the Leaf was not universally liked with some jurors awarding it either one or no points. In particular the Spanish and most of the Italian panellists seemed unimpressed by battery power.

Sometimes the voting has shown distinct nationalistic bias. This year, however, it wasn’t much in evidence. That said the Dacia Duster was the favourite of the Romanian juror (and also of one of the Belgians).

How would I have voted? Probably the Alfa Romeo Giulietta in first place, it just looks more interesting than the typical Focus, Golf or Astra. The Nissan is interesting but not CotY material.

European Car of the Year 2008

The votes have been counted and the winner announced in the annual European Car of the Year contest. You can read my predictions here. I’m quite pleased that I predicted the Fiat 500’s victory but that is the only thing I got right. The second place for the Mazda 2 came as a complete surprise.

Autumn Time

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, which means it is time for the annual European Car of the Year contest. Voted for by a jury comprising of 58 members from 22 countries, the number of jurors representing each nation depends on the size and significance of the motor industry and new car market in that country. Each juror has 25 points to award to at least 5 of the seven finalists. No more than 10 points can be awarded to any one car and ties are not permitted. Furthermore each juror must provide a written justification for the way they voted.



The shortlist for the 2008 ECOTY has been released. From 35 eligible cars seven have shown the “right stuff” as potential Car of the Year material. Those cars are the Fiat 500, Ford Mondeo, Kia Cee'd, Mazda 2, Mercedes-Benz C-class, Nissan Qashqai and the Peugeot 308. Picking a likely winner from that lot is incredibly difficult. The Ford and Fiat are both highly regarded and both marques have a strong history of COTY winners. Only once, in 2005 when the Toyota Prius won, has a car built outside Europe been the outright winner – so it is unlikely that the Mazda 2 will win. Mercedes have only enjoyed one COTY win and nothing I’ve read about the C-class suggests that it could beat the Fiat of Ford. The Nissan might suffer because it looks like the sort of car we are supposed to hate – a SUV – or profit because it doesn’t fit typical classifications. The Peugeot will do well with the French judges but probably not any others where as the Cee’d could do surprisingly well.



I think this is the strongest COTY line-up in years. Only the Peugeot 308 and Mazda 2 seem incongruous – the Lexus LS and Land Rover Freelander might have been more interesting finalists but possibly not consonant with the spirit of the time. My prediction is that the Fiat 500 will win, the Mondeo will be second and it will be close for third place between the Mercedes C-class and the Kia Cee’d. Kia challenging Mercedes, who could have predicted that?