Volvo’s XC40 won the the prestigious title of Car of the Year 2018, awarded at the Geneva motor show.
It saw off challenges from six other finalists: the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Audi A8, BMW 5-Series, Citroen C3 Aircross, Kia Stinger, and Seat Ibiza.
The 60 journalist on the jury from 23 European countries awarded the Swedish crossover 325 points against the Seat’s 242 and the third-placed BMW 5-series with 226 points.
Fourth place went to Kia’s new Stinger coupé which polled 204 points, Citroën’s C3 Aircross with 171 points, Audi’s A8 with 169 and Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio with 163.
With 25 points to allocated across the seven shortlisted cars, each jury member has to judge each of the cars against the following criteria: design; comfort; safety, handling; economy; performance; functionality; environmental requirements; driver satisfaction; and price, with technical innovation and value for money seen as particularly important attributes.
Each jury member has 25 points to allocated amongst the seven cars, with a maximum of 10 points to any one car.
As the Irish jury member, my votes were: BMW 5 Series - seven points; Volvo XC40 - five points; Seat Ibiza - four points; Citroën C3 Aircross - three points; and two points each for the Audi A8, Kia Stinger and Alfa Romeo Stelvio.
In selecting the car of the year, jury members use the following criteria: design, comfort, safety, economy, handling, performance, functionality, environmental requirements, driver satisfaction and price.
Technical innovation and value for money are particularly important factors.
The European Car of the Year is independent from other motoring prizes.
Earlier this year jury members attended various test events to assess the latest offerings from the motor industry. The largest test event is a week-long session held in rural Denmark that also includes specific tests on cornering, emergency braking and other safety features.
