European Car of the Year
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| Formation | 1964 |
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| Website | www |
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), (United Kingdom), 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 2016 ECOTY was announced on February 29, 2016, at the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, the winner being the Opel/Vauxhall Astra.
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.
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 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, 2006), Volkswagen Golf (1992, 2013), and Opel/Vauxhall Astra (1985, 2016), are the only cars to have won the award more than once. In November 2010, the Nissan Leaf was the first electrically powered vehicle to be awarded Car of the Year.
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