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Car of the Year is a phrase usually considered to have been invented by Motor Trend magazine in the 1950s for their annual award for best American automobile. The magazine still gives this award.
It also refers to an award given yearly to the new automobile selected best by a jury of journalists for motor magazines in Europe. In 2013, the Jury os this award was made up by 58 members –57 men and only one woman.
Although other similar awards exist in other parts of the world like Australia from the Australian automobile magazine Wheels and the AJAC in Canada, these two are the major ones that use the phrase, which is sometimes abbreviated COTY.
The European Car of the Year award
was established in 1964 by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organisers of the award are Auto (Italy), Autocar (UK), Autopista (Spain), Autovisie (Netherlands), L'Automobile Magazine (France), Stern (Germany) and Vi Bilägare (Sweden).
The voting jury consists of motoring journalists from publications throughout Europe. Representation from each country is based on the size of the country's car market and car manufacturing industry. The jury for 2012 consisted of 59 members from 23 countries.
There are no categories or class winners — the stated objective is to find a "single, decisive winner" among all competing cars.
The 2013 ECOTY was announced on March 4, 2013, at the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, the winner being the Volkswagen Golf.[1]
Current rules[edit]
Eligible cars are new models released in the twelve months prior to the award. The award is not restricted to European cars, but nominees must be available in at least five European countries, and have expected sales of 5,000 a year.
Nominees are judged on the following criteria: design, comfort, safety, economy, handling, performance, functionality, environmental requirements, driver satisfaction and price. Technical innovation and value for money are also important factors.[1]
A shortlist of seven cars is selected by a simple vote. For the final round of voting, each jury member has 25 points to distribute among the finalists. The points must be distributed to at least five cars, with no more than ten to any one car, and no joint top marks. The voting is open, and each jury member provides published justification for their vote distribution.
Under these rules, the decisiveness of the victory has varied greatly.
For example, in 1988, the Peugeot 405 won by 212 points, the biggest gap in the history of the European Car of the Year competition; such feat was repeated in 2013, as the Mk VII Volkswagen Golf won by the same points gap in 2013. In 2010 the Volkswagen Polo won by a mere 10 points, received maximum points from twenty-five jurors, and was the top choice of 59.
The Renault Clio (1991 and 2006) and Volkswagen Golf (1992 and 2013) are the only cars to have won the award more than once.
Winners sorted by manufacturer
Manufacturer Wins Winning Cars
Fiat 9 124 (1967); 128 (1970); 127 (1972); Uno (1984); Tipo (1989); Punto (1995); Bravo/Brava (1996); Panda (2004); 500 (2008)
Renault 6 16 (1966); 9 (1982); Clio (1991); Scénic (1997); Mégane (2003); Clio (2006)
Ford 5 Escort (1981); Scorpio (1986); Mondeo (1994); Focus (1999); S-Max (2007)
Opel 4 Kadett (1985); Omega (1987); Insignia (2009); Ampera (2012)
Citroën 3 GS (1971); CX (1975); XM (1990)
Peugeot 3 504 (1969); 405 (1988); 307 (2002)
Volkswagen 3 Golf (1992); Polo (2010); Golf (2013)[6]
Alfa Romeo 2 156 (1998); 147 (2001)
Audi 2 80 (1973); 100 (1983)
Chrysler/Simca 2 1307-1308 (1976); Simca-Chrysler Horizon (1979)
Nissan 2 Micra (1993); Leaf (2011)
Rover 2 P6 (1964); SD1 (1977)
Toyota 2 Yaris (2000); Prius (2005)
Austin 1 1800 (1965)
Chevrolet 1 Volt (2012)
Lancia 1 Delta (1980)
Mercedes-Benz 1 S-Class (1974)
NSU 1 Ro 80 (1968)
Porsche 1 928 (1978)
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