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Car of the Year 2009
Car of the Year 2008
 


The spirit of Car of the Year
An expert, independent judgement of all new cars on the European market.

The Car of the Year is an international award, judged by a panel of senior motoring journalists across Europe. Its object is to acclaim the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the 12 months preceding the date of the title.

The Car of the Year has a new look with the smart new logo seen about. It replaces the ‘poppet valve’ design that has been used for more than 30 years.

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What makes a Car of the Year?
The object of Car of the Year is to find a single, decisive winner. The voting process is designed for that purpose, and not to provide a scale of merit of all competing cars. There are no categories, sub-divisions or class winners.

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A truly international contest
The Jury for the Car of the Year 2009 consists of 59 members, representing 23 European countries. National representation on the Jury is related to the size of the country's car market and its importance in car manufacturing. France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain each have six members; other countries, proportionally fewer.

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Seven pillars of support

The Car of the Year Organizing Committee is made up of managers from the seven prominent publications around Europe which take it in turn to organize the vote, publicize and promote the contest, and hold the prizegiving ceremony. The Jury is completely independent of the Organizing Committee in matters pertaining to the award itself - the selection of eligible cars and the voting.

The seven organizers of car of the Year are:
Auto (Italy)
Autocar (UK)
Autopista (Spain)
Autovisie (Holland)
L'Automobile Magazine (France)
Stern (Germany)
Vi Bilägare (Sweden).

The Car of the Year 2009 is organized in Germany by Autocar. Accordingly, Patrick Fuller, representing Haymarket Publishing, is the President of the Organizing Committee for this edition. The Car of the Year 2009 winner will be announced on November 17th, 2008 simultaneously across Europe.