The European Car of the Year 2016 shortlist is out. It’s an award that Autocar sponsors and on whose jury yours truly somehow landed a position last year. The process is a bit dull but might be worth noting.
All eligible new cars make a longlist. To be eligible, they’ve got to be new this year and on sale in five European countries by a certain date, and although there’s no longer a limit on how many they sell (the minimum was 5000, but that ruled out cars like the BMW i8, so it was canned), a realistic number of judges have to have driven them. So no Ariel Nomad, tragically.
Of the longlist, each of the 58 jury members nominates their preferred seven to go through to the shortlist. The ones with the most votes get on it, which is what we have now. Final judging will take place early next year and the winner will be announced in Geneva on the eve of the motor show in March.
What’s noteworthy this year is that the shortlist is full of good cars. Yes, really. It’s the strongest shortlist I can remember: the Audi A4, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XE, Mazda MX-5, Opel (Vauxhall) Astra, Skoda Superb and Volvo XC90.
I’d put most of those as my choices, too, but I wouldn’t complain about any of the others. I had the A4, MX-5, Superb and XC90 down, but I’d opted for the XF over the XE, because I think it’s better in its class than the XE in its, but I can see why Jaguar’s entry into a new market gets the nod instead.
I had the Mazda 2 on my list, because I think it’s a terrific supermini. But the Astra’s also a good car and its weight saving is pretty significant, so I can understand it going in. And the 7 Series is decent. It’s not quite class-leading enough by Autocar’s road test reckoning to have made my list, but I’m always happy if a BMW – a brand that has never won CotY, ridiculously – stands a chance.
If you count the Astra as German – and I suppose you might as well, although it has been engineered elsewhere, too, and is built in the UK – that’s three German cars, a Swede, one from the Czech Republic, one from Britain and one from Japan. For the first time since 2004, there’s nothing French on the shortlist. And for the fourth year in a row, nothing Italian.
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No clear favourite this year.
Impressive all round engineering. Minus points are some expensive options which should be standard; the satnav destination input,either on screen or by voice recognition, will drive you mad. To connect some older phones, a 16 digits PIN is now needed which then "kills" them. Very good new 2L petrol engine.
Jaguar XE.
Best driving dynamics (driving position, ride & handling, steering feel). The real driver's car here which will give you a big smile when you get it moving. Minus points are the engines which are less refined than most of the competition and only average fuel consumption. The space at the back is not great and the ergonomy of the inside front door panels is a bit of a mess. Satnav map is not as detailed as the German competition and the map 3D graphics go flat when zooming out. The heated seats are already too hot on the lowest setting, with the heat not evenly spread out (cold spots).
Skoda Superb.
A bit mushy to drive (most drivers select Sport Mode on Drive Select) but otherwise very good. Lots of nice touches like the umbrella holders in the front doors, ice scraper in the filler cap, boot light which can be removed to become a torch and the nice storage solutions (not only in the boot). Best value car here if you look at it's size and specs list.
Volvo XC90.
The old one was an old dinosaur which should have been scrapped 5 years ago. The new one is a huge step forward but Volvo has made a huge mistake by getting rid of the 2 buttons on the steering wheel, which operate all the central screen functions (the old XC90 didn't have them but all the other Volvos have). This means you spend a lot of time fiddling in and out of all the different menus on the "ipad style" central screen, which takes your eyes and mind off the road ahead. The satnav map is not very detailed and the voice recognition is very hit and miss. The audio sound is superb though and the interior is very "Swedish cool" I find the driving position too low for an SUV but maybe that's just me.
Other contenders; not driven yet.
Sans Frog
Silly question
I know that traditionally there has often been a Japanese presence, but it doesn't make much sense. Maybe it should be renamed European and Japanese COTY? Really though I think that Car of the Year has outlived any usefulness it ever had, and it's really only of interest the industry and its various marketing departments.
Silly answer
Didn't you know its a badge-engineered version of the Fiat Spider?
Fiat Spider
Other way round if anything! But that would be to underplay the changes Fiat have made, especially in the engine bay.