With the Frankfurt Motor Show almost over, the next big event in the European auto world is the 2012 Car of the Year competition. The winner won’t be announced until March 5th, 2012, but the contenders are already taking their spot on the starting line.
Last year’s winner was the Nissan Leaf, the first electric car to ever win the contest. With a score of 257 points, the Leaf barely beat the Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s 248 points. The Opel/Vauxhall Meriva came in at a very close third with 244 points.
This year a jury made up of 59 journalists representing 23 European countries will gather in Sweden to test drive the cars competing. How many journalists a country gets to send is relative to the size of its auto market and its activities in car manufacturing. Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain have six representatives each, while other countries have less.
Only cars launched or presented in the 12 months before the contest are eligible. They have to be entirely new models, not just aesthetic and/or mechanical updates of an existing car. They also have to be on sale in at least five European countries at the time of the competition, and they must have a projected sales volume of at least 5,000 cars a year.
There are many criteria used to elect the car of the year, including design, safety, performance, and price. According to the Car of the Year committee, two of the most important ones are technical innovation and bang for the buck.
On January 9th, 2012, a simple vote will narrow the 35 cars down to seven finalists. To select the winner, each jury member will have 25 points to attribute to at least five cars as they see fit; the maximum they are allowed to give to a single car is 10 points.
The Car of the Year competition doesn’t aim to split cars up into categories. The car that gets the most points wins regardless of engine size, body type, and so on.
Below is a list of the 35 cars that will compete in this year’s contest.
Audi A6 and Q3
BMW 1-Series and 6-Series
Chevrolet Aveo and Orlando
Citroen DS4 and DS5
Fiat Panda
Ford Focus
Honda Civic
Hyundai i40 and Veloster
Kia Picanto and Rio
Lancia Ypsilon
Lexus GS
Mercedes-Benz B-Class, M-Class and SLK-Class
Opel Ampera/ Chevrolet Volt
Opel Zafira Tourer
Peugeot 508 and 3008 HYbrid4
Porsche 911 (991)
Ranger Rover Evoque
Renault Kangoo Z.E. and Fluence Z.E.
Ssangyong Korando
Toyota Yaris
Volkswagen Beetle, Jetta and Up!
