Photo: Jeep
The Car of the Year 2023 award jury has decided on a shortlist from which the winner will be chosen in January. The board, consisting of over 60 members from all over Europe, has selected the seven finalists from the 27 candidates that qualified for the next year’s award.
As the song goes, the times they are a-changin’, and this year’s Car of The Year award will not be anything like we know it. The 27 nominees were chosen as always, and the seven finalists were also shortlisted like they do every year. But there will not be a Geneva Motor Show ceremony because there will not be a Geneva Motor Show next year. Or, at least, it will not be held in Geneva.
Instead, the Swiss pondered with their usual neutrality and decided that the best suitable place to hold the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) would be Doha, in Qatar. If this sounds like the way FIFA awarded the World Cup to the same country, it most certainly is. Money talks and corruption is everywhere, in football and the automotive industry.
The good news is that the Car of the Year organizers didn’t buy into it and decided to move the award ceremony to Brussels instead. The fact that this year’s GIMS takes place in November instead of February-March certainly helped. That’s why the Brussels Motor Show, which starts in January, was considered a better occasion to announce the COTY 2023 winner.
Until then, the COTY 2023 jury designated the seven finalists, all featuring at least some form of electrification. The seven finalists are the Jeep Avenger (EV), Kia Niro (available as a hybrid, PHEV, and EV), Nissan Ariya (EV), Peugeot 408 (ICE, PHEV, and EV), Renault Austral (mild-hybrid and full-hybrid), Subaru Soltera/Toyota bZ4x (EV) and Volkswagen ID. Buzz (EV).
As you can see, there are opportunities for Kia to win another award (it won the COTY 2022 award with the EV6) or for Renault to finally nail it (the Megane E-Tech lost to Kia last year). Our bets are on Kia, although Volkswagen’s will to prove a point with the ID. Buzz should not be underestimated. Stellantis is also a strong contender, although the Jeep Avenger is not that important for the European market, while the Peugeot 408 is not electric enough.
Instead, the Swiss pondered with their usual neutrality and decided that the best suitable place to hold the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) would be Doha, in Qatar. If this sounds like the way FIFA awarded the World Cup to the same country, it most certainly is. Money talks and corruption is everywhere, in football and the automotive industry.
The good news is that the Car of the Year organizers didn’t buy into it and decided to move the award ceremony to Brussels instead. The fact that this year’s GIMS takes place in November instead of February-March certainly helped. That’s why the Brussels Motor Show, which starts in January, was considered a better occasion to announce the COTY 2023 winner.
Until then, the COTY 2023 jury designated the seven finalists, all featuring at least some form of electrification. The seven finalists are the Jeep Avenger (EV), Kia Niro (available as a hybrid, PHEV, and EV), Nissan Ariya (EV), Peugeot 408 (ICE, PHEV, and EV), Renault Austral (mild-hybrid and full-hybrid), Subaru Soltera/Toyota bZ4x (EV) and Volkswagen ID. Buzz (EV).
As you can see, there are opportunities for Kia to win another award (it won the COTY 2022 award with the EV6) or for Renault to finally nail it (the Megane E-Tech lost to Kia last year). Our bets are on Kia, although Volkswagen’s will to prove a point with the ID. Buzz should not be underestimated. Stellantis is also a strong contender, although the Jeep Avenger is not that important for the European market, while the Peugeot 408 is not electric enough.
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