Finalists For 2011 European COTY Awards Announced

Finalists For 2011 European COTY Awards Announced

By Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Editor

November 2nd, 2010

2011 Volvo S60Enlarge PhotoThe finalists for the 2011 European Car of the Year awards have been announced and surprisingly there is not a single luxury car among them, except perhaps the 2011 Volvo S60, which sits near the bottom of the luxury car spectrum.

This means that original candidates like the new Jaguar XJ, Mercedes-Benz CLS and BMW 5-Series were all overlooked. Not surprisingly, most of the finalists are economical compacts, reflecting the changing trend of what’s most important when judging new cars. Even the all-electric Nissan Leaf has made this year’s final round.

The European Car of the Year awards is judged by a panel of 59 members, representing 23 European countries. National representation on the panel is related to the size of the country's car market and its importance in car manufacturing, with France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain topping the list with six members each.

A total of 41 candidates were originally eligible for the 2011 awards. A number that grows bigger when body versions and derivatives are considered. All of the contenders are new vehicles available now or soon in five or more European markets, and each has the prospect of at least 5,000 yearly sales.

Last year's winner was the Volkswagen Polo, which you can read about by clicking here. The winner for 2011 will be announced on November 29 so stay tuned.

The finalists, in no particular order, are as follows:

Alfa Romeo Giulietta

Citroen C3/DS3

Dacia Duster

Ford C-Max/Grand C-Max

Nissan Leaf

Opel Meriva

Volvo S60/Volvo V60

link:

http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1051097_finalists-for-2011-european-coty-awards-announced