The European Car of the Year award was established in 1964 by acollective 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. There are no categories or class winners, the stated objective is to find a "single, decisive winner" among all competing cars. The 2014 ECOTY was announced on March 3, 2014, at the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, the winner being the Peugeot 308.
Rules
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 satisfation and price. Technical innovation and value for money are also important factors.
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 point 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 Golfwon 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.
Previous Winners
European Car of the Year | ||||||
Year | Winner | Points | Second place | Points | Third place | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Rover 2000 | 76 | Mercedes 600 | 64 | Hillman Imp | 31 |
1965 | Austin 1800 | 78 | Autobianchi Primula | 51 | Ford Mustang | 18 |
1966 | Renault 16 | 98 | Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow | 81 | Oldsmobile Toronado | 59 |
1967 | Fiat 124 | 144 | BMW 1600 | 69 | Jensen FF | 61 |
1968 | NSU Ro 80 | 197 | Fiat 125 | 133 | Simca 1100 | 94 |
1969 | Peugeot 504 | 119 | BMW 2500/2800 | 77 | Alfa Romeo 1750 | 76 |
1970 | Fiat 128 | 235 | Autobianchi A112 | 96 | Renault 12 | 79 |
1971 | Citroën GS | 233 | Volkswagen K70 | 121 | Citroën SM | 105 |
1972 | Fiat 127 | 239 | Renault 15/17 | 107 | Mercedes 350SL | 96 |
1973 | Audi 80 | 114 | Renault 5 | 109 | Alfa Romeo Alfetta | 95 |
1974 | Mercedes 450S | 115 | Fiat X1/9 | 99 | Honda Civic | 90 |
1975 | Citroën CX | 229 | Volkswagen Golf | 164 | Audi 50 | 136 |
1976 | Simca 1307-1308 | 192 | BMW 3-series | 144 | Renault 30 TS | 107 |
1977 | Rover 3500 | 157 | Audi 100 | 138 | Ford Fiesta | 135 |
1978 | Porsche 928 | 261 | BMW 7-series | 231 | Ford Granada | 203 |
1979 | Simca-Chrysler Horizon | 251 | Fiat Ritmo | 239 | Audi 80 | 181 |
1980 | Lancia Delta | 369 | Opel Kadett | 301 | Peugeot 505 | 199 |
1981 | Ford Escort Mk.III | 326 | Fiat Panda | 308 | Austin Metro | 255 |
1982 | Renault 9 | 335 | Opel Ascona | 304 | Volkswagen Polo | 252 |
1983 | Audi 100 | 410 | Ford Sierra | 386 | Volvo 760 | 157 |
1984 | Fiat Uno | 346 | Peugeot 205 | 325 | Volkswagen Golf | 156 |
1985 | Opel Kadett | 326 | Renault 25 | 261 | Lancia Thema | 191 |
1986 | Ford Scorpio | 337 | Lancia Y10 | 291 | Mercedes-Benz 200-300E | 273 |
1987 | Opel Omega | 275 | Audi 80 | 238 | BMW 7-series | 175 |
1988 | Peugeot 405 | 464 | Citroën AX | 252 | Honda Prelude | 234 |
1989 | Fiat Tipo | 356 | Opel Vectra | 261 | Volkswagen Passat | 194 |
1990 | Citroën XM | 390 | Mercedes-Benz SL | 215 | Ford Fiesta | 214 |
1991 | Renault Clio | 312 | Nissan Primera | 258 | Opel Calibra | 183 |
1992 | Volkswagen Golf | 276 | Opel Astra | 231 | Citroën ZX | 213 |
1993 | Nissan Micra | 338 | Fiat Cinquecento | 304 | Renault Safrane | 244 |
1994 | Ford Mondeo | 290 | Citroën Xantia | 264 | Mercedes-Benz C | 192 |
1995 | Fiat Punto | 370 | Volkswagen Polo | 292 | Opel Omega | 272 |
1996 | Fiat Bravo/Brava | 378 | Peugeot 406 | 363 | Audi A4 | 246 |
1997 | Renault Mégane Scénic | 405 | Ford Ka | 293 | Volkswagen Passat | 248 |
1998 | Alfa Romeo 156 | 454 | Volkswagen Golf | 266 | Audi A6 | 265 |
1999 | Ford Focus | 444 | Opel Astra | 269 | Peugeot 206 | 248 |
2000 | Toyota Yaris | 344 | Fiat Multipla | 325 | Opel Zafira | 265 |
2001 | Alfa Romeo 147 | 238 | Ford Mondeo | 237 | Toyota Prius | 229 |
2002 | Peugeot 307 | 286 | Renault Laguna | 244 | Fiat Stilo | 243 |
2003 | Renault Mégane | 322 | Mazda 6 | 302 | Citroën C3 | 214 |
2004 | Fiat Panda | 281 | Mazda 3 | 241 | Volkswagen Golf | 241 |
2005 | Toyota Prius | 406 | Citroën C4 | 267 | Ford Focus | 228 |
2006 | Renault Clio | 256 | Volkswagen Passat | 251 | Alfa Romeo 159 | 212 |
2007 | Ford S-Max | 235 | Opel Corsa | 233 | Citroën C4 Picasso | 222 |
2008 | Fiat 500 | 385 | Mazda2 | 325 | Ford Mondeo | 202 |
2009 | Opel Insignia | 321 | Ford Fiesta | 320 | Volkswagen Golf | 223 |
2010 | Volkswagen Polo | 347 | Toyota iQ | 337 | Opel Astra | 221 |
2011 | Nissan Leaf | 257 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 248 | Opel Meriva | 244 |
2012 | Chevrolet Volt
/Opel Ampera |
330 | Volkswagen up! | 281 | Ford Focus | 256 |
2013 | Volkswagen Golf | 414 | Toyota GT-86
/Subaru BRZ |
202 | Volvo V40 | 189 |
2014 | Peugeot 308 | 307 | BMW i3 | 223 | Tesla Model S | 216 |
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) |
Peuget | 4 | 504 (1969); 405 (1988); 307 (2002); 308 (2014) |
Citroën | 3 | GS (1971); CX (1975); XM (1990) |
Volkswagen | 3 | Golf (1992); Polo (2010); Golf (2013) |
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) |