Cash strapped Europe has developed a proclivity for electric cars taking top honours in the European Car of the Year awards. In 2011, it was the Nissan Leaf and then (effectively last year) it was the Opel Ampera that won gold.
The majority of cars on this year’s European Car of the Year nominee list are conventionally powered machines. How Bizarre. Sure, there are a few plug-in hybrids from Toyota and Volvo, but these are not revolutionary like the Leaf and Ampera. Despite this, as is always the case with the European driving environment, diminutive, fuel efficient cars still dominate the list.
We don’t get some of these cars in South Africa and we’d like to think some of these nominees wouldn’t be caught dead on a South African Car of the Year list (can you guess which ones), but the contest nevertheless points towards popular trends of the moment and can be a good gauge for the local competition. The list is as follows alphabetically:
European Car Of The Year Nominees
- Audi A3
- BMW 3 Series
- Chevrolet Malibu
- Dacia Lodgy
- Fiat 500L
- Ford B-Max
- Honda CR-V
- Hyundai i30
- Hyundai Santa Fe
- Kia cee’d
- Kia Optima
- Lancia Flavia
- Mazda6
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class
- Mercedes-Benz SL
- Mitsubishi Outlander
- Mitsubishi ASX / Citroen Aircross / Peugeot 4008
- Opel / Vauxhall Adam
- Opel / Vauxhall Mokka
- Peugeot 208
- Porsche Boxster
- Range Rover
- Renault Clio
- Skoda Rapid / Seat Toledo
- Smart ED
- Subaru Impreza
- Subaru XV
- Subaru BRZ / Toyota GT86
- Tata Vista
- Toyota Auris
- Toyota Prius Plug-in
- Toyota Prius Plus
- Volkswagen Golf
- Volvo V40
- Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid
