Car of the Year Newsfeed

Prizegiving in Wolfsburg � Golf�s home

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2013-06-19 00:00:00

Wolfsburg was again the venue for the prizegiving of a Volkswagen model in Car of the Year award. The birthplace of the Golf was the appropriate scenery for the CotY 2013 winner, when the 7th generation of the icon has just added to a total production of 30 million units since 1974. As it was emphasized by Volkswagen staffers, the brandname has been by far the most successful one in the CotY elections for the last five years, with two wins (Polo in 2010 and Golf VII in 2013), the second place of the up! in 2012 and the third position of the previous Golf in 2009.

50 winners

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2013-06-18 00:00:00

Car of the Year award, the most prestigious prize of its kind, reached its 50 edition with the Volkswagen Golf being proclaimed as 2013 winner last March. In half a century of existence, the trophy has been awarded to many cars that are part of the automotive history, starting with the Rover 2000 as 1964 winner.

Car of the Year 2013 announced in Geneva

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2013-03-08 00:00:00

For the second time within its new schedule, Car of the Year award winner was announced as a Geneva Motor Show preliminary, in Palexpo facilities, on the eve of the press days. The contest had eight finalists previously nominated (andldquo;eight winners,andrdquo; in the words of Hakan Matson, president of the Jury), but the event was to reveal The Winner: Volkswagen Golf.

Car of the Year 2013: VW Golf does it again

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2013-03-05 00:00:00

The seventh generation of the Volkswagen Golf has been named winner of Car of the Year 2013 award. It was a comprehensive victory for the VW with 414 points, well ahead of the Toyota GT86/Subaru BR-Z with 202 points and the Volvo V40 with 189 points.

Assessment in Mortefontaine

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2013-02-25 00:00:00

The proving grounds of CERAM testing institute were again the base for the final test session of candidate models for Car of the Year 2013 award that its Secretariat General organizes.

8 finalists for Car of the Year 2013

2012-12-17 00:00:00

The two-phase voting for Car of the Year award calls for the nomination of seven finalists with a first, simple vote in which each juror selects seven candidates. CotY Statutes and Regulations also envisage enlarging to eight the number of finalists in the case of a tie in the number of nominations for the seventh place.

Tannistest 2012: Business as usual

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-10-27 00:00:00

Again a fruitful meeting in Northern Denmark with a lot of knowledgeable professionals, a whole army of cars to test and the warm ambience of the organization by the Scandinavian members of Car of the Year Jury. Switching the event date from late September to mid October did not luckily affect much Tannistest 2012 in the weather department. The conditions were unexpectedly sunny and warm most of the time, even if the customary 'elk test' was delayed just one day because of the autumnal gutsy wind.

Didier Laurent, new member of CotY 2013 Jury

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-08-08 00:00:00

A new Jury member from France has been confirmed for Car of the Year 2013 award. Didier Laurent, 40, is a staffer of 'L'Argus de l'automobile' publication, and has previously worked in 'Auto Plus' and 'L'Auto-Journal' magazines.

Active Braking to be assessed by Euro NCAP

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-06-14 00:00:00

The so called AEB systems (Autonomous/Active Emergency Braking) have been the object of praise by Euro NCAP institution in the concession of its Advanced Rewards. They are a 'family' of devices that capture/analyze the circumstances of a potential inminent crash and alert the inatentive driver, or reinforce/substitute his/her action to apply the maximum braking, mitigating or avoiding the crash. Studies estimate that such devices might reduce in more than 25% the amount of road accidents, many of them caused by distraction.

Six new members in Car of the Year Jury

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-06-06 00:00:00

After some retirements for age reasons and the premature passing away of the Spanish member Pedro Figueruelo, the composition of the Jury for Car of the Year 2013 award records the incorporation of six new members.

New President of CotY Organizing Committee

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-06-05 00:00:00

Domenico Tudini, vice-president of Conti Editore, is the president of Organizing Committee for Car of the Year 2013 award. Conti Editore are publishers of AUTO magazine, one of the seven sponsoring publications of CotY institution.

CEOs of Chevrolet Europe and Opel collected the CotY 2012 trophy

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-03-07 00:00:00

For the first time in Car of the Year history, the 2012 winner was announced on the eve of Geneva Auto Show press days, in front of many journalists ready to attend the show. Both CEOs of Chevrolet Europe, Susan Docherty, and Adam Opel AG, Carl-Friedrich Stracke, were at hand, eager to collect the coveted trophy for the winning Chevrolet Volt/Opel Ampera.

Ampera/Volt sweeps on Car of the Year 2012

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2012-03-05 00:00:00

The joint candidacy of Opel/Vauxhall Ampera and Chevrolet Volt, with 330 points, has been distinctly preferred by CotY 2012 Jury members, who put Volkswagen Up! second with 281 points and Ford Focus third, with 256.

Final test in Mortefontaine

2012-03-01 00:00:00

The Mortefontaine facilities of CERAM test institution, not far from Paris, was the stage for the final testing event available to CotY Jury members, organized by its Secretariat General in a two-day session previous to the final vote for Car of the Year 2012 award.

Euro NCAP: More protection for pedestrians

2012-01-09 00:00:00

For 2010 Euro NCAP introduced more stringent criteria to rate with 5 stars the crash result of any new car. In top of other checked results, electronic stability control had to be a standard item in the model to obtain that mark. In spite of that, and along the past two years, the majority of tests have awarded the cars the coveted 5-star rating.

Tannis 2011, the early chance

2011-10-13 00:00:00

Car of the Year award has changed much its timing, with the announcement of 2012 winner on early March. But Tannistest in Northern Jutland sticks to its usual schedule on late September. The reason why is obvious when you visit this idyllic part of Danemark and enjoy the scenery and good weather in the end of the tourist season. Doing it only a few weeks later, to get closer to voting time for jurors, would likely mean bad weather and fewer daylight hours.

5-star new harvest in Euro NCAP

2011-05-31 00:00:00

Euro NCAP has announced a new batch of tests on six new cars, all of them receiving the 5 star general rating: Citroandeuml;n DS4, Ford Focus, Lexus CT200h, Nissan Leaf, Peugeot 508 and Volvo V60. The presence on this group of the Car of the Year 2011, the Nissan Leaf, comes to prove that a new-generation electric car may be as safe as conventional cars, in spite of the considerable space and weight dedicated to batteries; battery damage or high voltage leeking have also been well cared for, following the result of the test.

CotY winner to be announced in Geneva Show

2011-05-20 00:00:00

The Car of the Year award will change its procedure for the announcement of the winner, that will be made each year on the eve of press day in Geneva Motor Show, starting with the 2012 edition. After almost half a century of publicizing the result on late November, the CotY Organizing Committee has reached an agreement with the Swiss annual show to disclose the winner in Palexpo each Monday prior to the first press day, at 15:00.

Prizegiving in Paris: electric triumph

2011-01-28 00:00:00

Headquarters for L'Automobile magazine -host in turn for Car of the Year 2011 award- Paris is also one of the poles of Renault-Nissan Alliance. Pavillon Gabriel, close to Champs-Elysees, was therefore the appropriate venue for the prizegiving event. Carlos Ghosn collected personally the trophy from the hands of Car of the Year Jury President, Hakan Matson. The presence of the CEO and President of Nissan, but also of Renault, stressed the commitment of the Alliance with the future of electric cars. Nissan Leaf has marked a precedent in the history of this award with the first win for an electric vehicle, but other Alliance models will soon follow it in the market. Nissan first won a CotY trophy in 1993 with the Micra, and the second accolade comes in due time. The General Assembly of the Jury, held previously, recorded the retirement of four members, Peter Aaboe of Denmark, Christophe Bonnaud of France, Wolfgang Peters of Germany and Maria-Angeles Pujol of Spain, after long services to the Jury.

Car of the Year 2011: Close win for Nissan Leaf

Eduardo Azpilicueta — 2010-11-29 00:00:00

Nissan Leaf, the first full electric vehicle finalist in this contest, is the Car of the Year 2011. As it has been usual in recent years, it was a close victory, with 257 points, against the 248 points of Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Opel/Vauxhall Meriva took the third place, with 244 points.