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This year marks the 50th anniversary of the European Car of the Year awards, first dreamed up by Fred van der Vlugt, editor of Dutch car magazine Auto Visie. The award goes to the best new model each year, judged by an international panel of hand picked judges. Last year, the 2013 European Car of the Year title was awarded to the Volkswagen Golf, in 2012 the title was given to the Vauxhall Ampera and in 2011 it was given to the Nissan Leaf.
This year's European Car of the Year 2014
To be eligible for the award, the models had to have been available before the end of 2013 in at least five European countries and also have reached or be predicted to reach 5,000 or more sales per year. Overall there were over 30 eligible models which went in for the awards including the BMW 4 Series, BMW X5, Hyundai i10, Kia Carens, Jaguar F-Type and Ford Kuga.
The seven shortlisted new cars were; the BMW 13 electric car, Tesla Model S, Skoda Octavia, Mazda 3, Citroen C4 Picasso, Mercedes S Class and Peugeot 308.
To come to a decision, the judges took into account everything from value for money, innovation and practicality to performance, handling and driver satisfaction. When all these factors were taken into account this year's award went to the Peugeot 308 mid sized family hatchback. Out of an international jury of 58 motoring writers, the Puegeot received 307 points, with top points awarded by 22 of them.
The 2014 European Car of the Year
The Peugeot 308 was built in Sochaux, Peugeot's historic home in Eastern France, being launched in mainland Europe during the last four months of 2013 and in the UK in January this year. In the UK market alone, more than 4,000 orders have been taken for the car, which is priced from £14,495 to £24,345. The vehicle won't reach the Chinese market, which is the biggest car market in the world, until 2015.
A Peugeot spokesperson commented, “The 2014 "Car of the Year" title represents the most prestigious recognition for the 308, which embodies the brand’s values of excellence. Sales success has already been achieved, with more than 55,000 orders recorded since the launch of the model; the new 308 is also contributing towards the brand’s move up-market, confirmed by the mix of the orders, a higher proportion of which is for the upper trim levels in its range.”
Director general of Automobiles Peugeot, Maxime Picat, commented, “With the new PEUGEOT 308, we were convinced that we had achieved a leap in concept, technology and quality and which would soon allow it a place on the podium for the category in Europe. The prestigious 2014 'Car of the Year' award, which I receive today on behalf of everyone at Peugeot who has contributed towards the development and launch of the award winning new 308, is the best confirmation of this.”
This week the company are showcasing their new 108 model at the Geneva Motor Show, while from the start of spring, the company plan to produce a second body style for their 308 model, the 308 SW estate. After winning the 2014 European Car of the Year award, the Peugeot 308 is also in the running for the 2014 World Car of the Year awards, whose shortlist will be announced soon.