After announcing the 34 nominees (38 if you include re-badged models like the Seat Toledo and Subaru BRZ) in late September, the organizing committee of the European edition of the Car of the Year award has now released the short list with the 8 finalists.
Normally, the short list includes 7 models, but due to the fact that two cars tied in the same position during the voting process, the committee increased the number of finalists to eight, just as it did in the 2007 edition of the award.
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Now, before someone adds a comment of the sort "in other related news, Audi unveiled the new A6", let us make it clear that we're not reporting on the actual Car of the Year (COTY) 2011 results, which were announced in late November 2010, but on the special ceremony that took place at the Pavillion Gabriel in Paris earlier this week to hand over the trophy to this year's winner, the new Nissan Leaf.
While our readers favored the Alfa Romeo Giulietta in our poll, the jury of the 2011 European Car of the Year Award (COTY) announced that the Nissan Leaf is the winner, earning a total of 257 points. This is the first time in the 47-year history of the competition that the award goes to an electric vehicle.
“The jury acknowledged today that the Nissan LEAF is a breakthrough for electric cars. Nissan LEAF is the first EV that can match conventional cars in many respects”, said Håkan Matson, President of the Jury, Car of the Year.
The Giulietta came in second with 248 points, while the Opel/Vauxhall Meriva took the bronze, with 244 points.
There were 41 candidates eligible for the European 2011 Car of the Year (COTY) award, with quite a few big names being mentioned, such as the Audi A7 Sportback and A8, BMW 5-Series and X3, Jaguar XJ and Mercedes Benz CLS. This week, the list was narrowed down to just seven finalists and, as in previous years, some of them weren't really expected to make it this far.
Our summary presents the remaining candidates in alphabetical order, with the winner set to be announced on November 29. We'd really like to know which of the seven cars would get your vote, though, so comment away below.
The countdown has began for the announcement of the European 'Car of the Year 2009' winner as the organizers released the shortlist with the seven finalists. The cars that made it to the final round of the 2009 COTY are: Alfa Romeo MiTo, Citroen C5, Ford Fiesta, Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, Renault Megane, Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Golf VI. The COTY jury, which is made up of 59 senior motoring journalists from 23 countries around Europe will reveal the winner on November 19.
The COTY's organizing committee also released a statement in concern of recent news stories that gave the result of a 'European Car of the Year'. According to the committee, this contest was a national one staged by the Italian Motor Journalists Association and had no connection whatsoever with the 'Car of the Year'.
COTY PREVIOUS WINNERS
- 2008 -- FIAT 500
- 2007-- FORD S-MAX
- 2006 -- RENAULT CLIO
- 2005 -- TOYOTA PRIUS
- 2004 -- FIAT PANDA
- 2003 -- RENAULT MÉGANE
- 2002 -- PEUGEOT 307
- 2001 -- ALFA ROMEO 147
- 2000 -- TOYOTA YARIS
- 1999 -- FORD FOCUS
- 1998 -- ALFA ROMEO 156
- 1997 -- RENAULT MÉGANE SCENIC
- 1996 -- FIAT BRAVO / BRAVA
- 1995 -- FIAT PUNTO
