But does that mean anything?
Fact is, probably not.
On the face of it, well done to Vauxhall, but when you consider how the award is arrived at, you have to question how it possible that a car that’s not even on sale anywhere in Europe until next year can win any kind of “best of” award. In fact 4 of the final 7 cars on the shortlist were not even for sale at the time these awards were made.
This years Top 7 cars for 2009 Car of the Year were:-
- Vauxhall Insignia 321 points (launch date January 2009)
- Ford Fiesta 320 points (launch date 4th October 2008)
- Volkswagen Golf 223 points (launch date January 2009)
- Citroen C5 198 points (released April 2008)
- Alfa Romeo Mito 148 points (launch date January 2009)
- Skoda Superb 144 points (launch date 18th September 2008)
- Renault Megane 121 points (launch date 26th November 2008)
Surely there can only be one sensible way to make this award valid in anyone’s eyes and that is to judge it retrospectively, at the end of the first year after the launch of the new car, when its had the chance to perform on the school run, or be used by a rep at the wheel on the fast lane of the M6 and then we would all have some real experience and we would know if it does do the job and we would know if it is a reliable car or not, or perhaps that just doesn’t that matter? Well it seems not and as the most important thing to us all (is it reliable and will it break down or not, or does it develop faults) are all ignored and so you have to ask yourself if its this is just away, to give the manufacturer of the winning vehicle something they can use over the next 12 months to help them sell cars, rather than telling “Joe Public” what really is the best car.
The COTY organisers say:- The object of Car of the Year is to find a single, decisive winner.
I am sure you want to know how they arrive at their decision (because I did) so we took a look at how the award is given, who gives it and we looked at all of the winners over the past 46 years and of course the winners and losers in this years award so you can then make your own decision as to if these awards would influence your choice of car or not.
COTY say, the Jury for the Car of the Year 2009 consisted of 59 members, representing 23 European countries. National representation on the Jury is related to the size of the country’s car market and its importance in car manufacturing. France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain each have six members; other countries, proportionally fewer
The jury of “senior motoring journalists” assesses cars of very different types and price, which means assessing them against their market rivals.
Its object is to acclaim the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the 12 months preceding the date of the title.
In selecting the car of the year they 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. So what about reliability & durability we ask? We don’t see any mention of that amongst the criteria.
In September, the Jury Committee draws up a list of eligible cars from all the newcomers presented over the previous 12 months. Eligible cars must be essentially new models, not simply changed cosmetically or by the installation of new engine or a transmission. They are considered irrespective of their country of origin but must be available in at least five European countries at the time of voting and have an expected sales volume of 5,000 a year.
The Jury then elects a short list of seven cars in a simple vote. For the second stage, each Jury member has 25 points to apportion to at least five cars, with a maximum of 10 points for any one of them, and produces a statement of justification for the vote.
So now you know!
Fact is, that 4 cars in the shortlist of 7, are, or were not even available for sale at the time these journalists tested them in October 2008 (3 will not be on sale until 2009) and that really stretches the credibility of this for me. No matter how much you think you know about cars, a minimal test drive and a quick buzz around Silverstone followed by a glass of Shloer and some prawn sandwiches really won’t answer the questions which enable you to comfortably make an award of this magnitude. Only when all these cars are tried and tested, in real life situations, by ordinary people in ordinary circumstances, will you ever start to get the real picture and that’s supported by looking at some of their choices of COTY in the past.
I will remind you again of how the COTY organisers describe these awards, “The object of Car of the Year is to find a single, decisive winner”.
How on this basis how can you possibly give a car an award such as “European Car of the Year” an honour that will without doubt influence peoples purchasing decisions, to a car that no member of the public has ever driven and who knows, once in regular use might end up being unreliable and constantly producing faults. It’s like looking at a meal, prodding it a bit, maybe smell it a little, and then deciding it’s the best meal you’ve had all year, before you even taste it, or perhaps like throwing a couple of washes into an automatic washing machine and assuming because it looks pretty and the door opens ok when you tested it, well its going to be just fine.
Some of the past results have been suspect, look at the notoriously unreliable Alfa Romeo 156, beating the VW Golf (3rd best selling car in history) by almost 200 points in 1998, or the quirky Toyota Prius almost doubling the points awarded to the fabulous and best selling Ford Focus, whilst one of the worst Porches ever built (the 928) won in 1978 and yet the most popular car ever in history, the Toyota Corolla which has sold over 35 million worldwide, has never ever figured ever in the judges top 3 cars.
Taking all of that into consideration take a look and see how good a job they’ve done in the past, and to help you do that, below is every winner since the award was first given.
How many of the cars below, do you think are “outstanding” that’s the judges criteria, you decide. Would you have agreed with the judges? Do you even know what any of the cars are, have you ever owned one and would you agree with the judges?
If you’ve got any stories to tell, drop us an e-mail, we would be interested to read them, meanwhile, below is the list.
1964 Rover 2000 (an unusual top 3, massive Mercedes 600 2nd and baby Hillman Imp 3rd)
1965 Austin 1800 (yes, the land crab was car of the year. 3rd place that year was the Ford Mustang!)
1966 Renault 16 (this car beat the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow which finished in 2nd place)
1967 Fiat 124 (BMW 1600 came 2nd, whilst the V8 6 litre Jensen Interceptor FF came 3rd)
1968 NSU RO 80 (must have been a poor year)
1969 Peugeot 504 (BMW 2500/2800 2nd and Alfa Romeo 1750 voted 3rd)
1970 Fiat 128 (Autobianchi A112 supermini took 2nd – bet you’ve never seen one)
1971 Citroen GS (what a year, Citroen took 3rd also with the SM and VW took 2nd with the K70)
1972 Fiat 127 (this beat Mercedes 350SL into 3rd place)
1973 Audi 80 (couldn’t have been any cars around as Renault 5 took 2nd and Alfa Romeo Alfetta grabbed 3rd)
1974 Mercedes 450 S (Fiats innovative X1/9 took 2nd whilst Honda Civic took 3rd)
1975 Citroen CX (quirky French car beats Golf into 2nd and Audi A50 into 3rd)
1976 Simca 1307/1308 (Chrysler Alpine) (Owned one, what an awful car)
1977 Rover 3500 (the days when a V8 could win – 329,000 of these were made. Ford Fiesta came 3rd)
1978 Porsche 928 (one of the worst Porches ever built, but not in the eyes of the judges)
1979 Simca / Chrysler Horizon (Fiat Ritmo / Strada voted 2nd with Audi 80 in 3rd)
1980 Lancia Delta (who do you know that ever bought one!)
1981 Ford Escort (got it right with this one, as the Escort went on to sell over 20 million – 5th best seller of all time)
1982 Renault 9 (Ascona takes 2 and VW Polo does its best at 3rd)
1983 Audi 100 (big, low volume German went on to beat mega popular motoring icon Ford Sierra into 2nd)
1984 Fiat Uno ( judges gave the Uno more than double the points they gave to 3rd placed VW Golf )
1985 Opel Kadett/Astra (what a nap hand this year, Renault 25 took 2nd and Lancia Thema 3rd)
1986 Ford Scorpio (Lancia’s Y10 came 2nd – judges were on the ball that year!)
1987 Vauxhall Omega (must have been on the luxury pills that year as Audi 80 took 2nd and BMW 7 Series 3rd)
1988 Peugeot 405 (around 2.5 million sold)
1989 Fiat Tipo (this beat Cavalier into 2nd place)
1990 Citroen XM (yes, they were all queuing up to buy this one)
1991 Renault Clio (Nissan Primera takes 2nd with Vauxhalls pretty Calibra 3rd)
1992 Volkswagen Golf (only time the judges gave the worlds 3rd best selling car of all time, the top spot)
1993 Nissan Micra (can you speak Micra? Decent enough car, but not a world beater)
1994 Ford Mondeo (time went on to prove this a justifiable winner)
1995 Fiat Punto (Turins little hatch pushed the reliable VW Polo back to 2nd)
1996 Fiat Brava / Bravo (Peugeot 406 and Audi A4 pick up 2nd & 3rd)
1997 Megane Scenic (Ford KA took 2nd with VW Passat in 3rd, but lovely little Puma didn’t figure)
1998 Alfa Romeo 156 (ridiculous decision as the unreliable Alfa beat VW Golf into 2nd by almost 200 points)
1999 Ford Focus (only time on the top spot for Focus, but it beat Astra by massive 175 points)
2000 Toyota Yaris (Fiats ugly Multipla took 2nd with Vauxhall’s Zafira taking 3rd)
2001 Alfa Romeo 147 (they do like there Alfa’s – Mondeo took 2nd & Toyota Prius 3rd – no mention of new Mini)
2002 Peugeot 307 (Fiat Stillo – the car that nearly bankrupt Fiat came 3rd)
2003 Renault Megane (Mazda 6 & Citroen C3 pick up 2nd and 3rd)
2004 Fiat Panda (Panda is a good car, but do you know what the 2nd placed Mazda 3 even looks like)
2005 Toyota Prius (beat best selling Ford Focus into 3rd place – Prius 406 points, Focus awarded just 228)
2006 Renault Clio (Passat picks up 2nd with another Alfa, this time the 159 third)
2007 Ford S-Max (Corsa takes 2nd and C4 Picasso grabs 3rd)
2008 Fiat 500 (Beats Mazda 2 into 2nd and amazingly, the new Mondeo into 3rd)
2009 Vauxhall Insignia (pretty car, but didn’t they say similar things when Vectra replaced Cavalier)
