Immerhin, this time a German brand is there. In the last round, not a single one actually made it into the final, actually unbelievable given the position of the German car industry on the world market. We’re talking about the Car of the Year award, which has been awarded since 1964 and is the most coveted prize in the industry.
The nominees for the Car of the Year 2023 award are, in alphabetical order: Jeep Avenger, Kia Niro, Nissan Ariya, Peugeot 408, Renault Austral, the identical Subaru Solterra and Toyota BZ4X models, and the Volkswagen ID Buzz.
Volkswagen is the only German manufacturer to fly the flag, entering the race with the electrically powered bus, which is based on the historical model. The seven finalists were chosen by a jury of 61 European specialist journalists in a secret ballot. This year they chose from 27 candidates.
Car of the year
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These are the seven favourites
The list included technical masterpieces such as the new BMW i7 or the brilliant Range Rover, neither of which made it. The bestseller GLC from the Mercedes-Benz range also did not make it past the first round, as did the widely praised Opel Astra. One can only speculate about the motives, only the vote for the car of the year is public. There are members of the jury who see a mistake in rejecting more expensive cars, since innovation usually prevails from the top down.
Now it’s time to take a close look at all the finalists. The winner will be announced on January 13, 2023 at the Brussels Motor Show. The Technik und Motor editorial team regularly accompanies the election, and the author of these lines is a member of the jury. A small tradition is the online survey, which is very popular and which we will start again before the announcement.