There are many Car of the Year (COTY) events all over the world today and there’s even a World Car of the Year. The one that started it all was the European Car of the Year (ECOTY), which began in 1964 as a collaboration between automobile magazines of a number of countries.
Unlike COTY events in other countries and regions, the ECOTY has just one winner each 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,” according to the ECOTY website.
The nominees are models sold in at least 5 European countries with an expected annual volume of 5,000 units. A shortlist of 7 contenders will be established by voting from a multinational jury. Technical innovation and value for money are said to be particularly important factors.
This year, the seven models on the shortlist for the 2021 Car of the Year are:
- Citroen C4
- Cupra Formentor
- Fiat New 500
- Land Rover Defender
- Skoda Octavia
- Toyota Yaris
- Volkswagen ID.3
The Volkswagen ID.3 is the only EV in the shortlist this year. It is one of the models in the German carmaker’s all-electric range. 10 years ago, EV models were more individual and the first one to win the ECOTY was the Nissan LEAF in 2011, followed by the Opel Ampera (GM Volt) the following year. But then car companies began to have EV or hybrid variants in a model line (eg the Hyundai IONIQ) so the distinction is somewhat blurred now. Last year, the Peugeot 208 was the winner and it has variants with internal combustion engines as well as electric powertrains.
A final voting round at the end of February will determine the Car of the Year for 2021, with the winner announced on March 1. Normally, the announcement would be made in Geneva, at the motorshow but with the pandemic and also the sudden cancellation of the event last year, it is now announced online.
