The 58 members of the Jury voted in the first round of the election of Car of the Year 2004 to select the finalists. From the 35 contenders for the award they nominated seven cars for the short list. They were as follows: BMW 5-series, Fiat Panda, Mazda3, Nissan Micra, Opel/Vauxhall Meriva, Toyota Avensis and Volkswagen Golf.
For the final vote, Jury members have to apportion 25 points among the seven cars, providing a written justification of their choice.