Car of the Year 2021 finalists revealed

Seven finalists are in the running for European Car of the Year 2021. The victor will follow the 2020 winner, the Peugeot 208.

Car of the Year 2021 logo

The European Car of the Year organisation has announced the seven finalists for the 2021 award.

In alphabetical order, the finalists are:

  • Citroen C4
  • Cupra Formentor
  • Fiat 500
  • Land Rover Defender
  • Skoda Octavia
  • Toyota Yaris
  • Volkswagen ID.3

The 60-strong jury will now conduct a second round of voting to determine the winner.

The 2021 European Car of the Year is due to be announced on 1 March 2021.

Peugeot 208

The victor will succeed the 2020 Car of the Year, the Peugeot 208 (pictured above). Peugeot is not in the running for a repeat triumph in 2021, despite the 2008 SUV appearing on the longlist.

2021 Car of the Year contenders

A total of 29 cars were originally in the running for the 2021 gong. All models are required to be on sale either now or before the year’s end in at least five European countries.

In the running were no fewer than four Mercedes-Benz models, the all-electric Polestar 2, two Ford SUVs and a significant head-to-head – the Volkswagen Golf vs the all-electric ID.3.

Here in full is the 2021 Car of the Year longlist:

1. Audi A3

2. BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe

3. BMW 4 Series

4. Citroen C4

5. Cupra Formentor

6. Dacia Sandero

7. Fiat 500

8. Ford Explorer

9. Ford Kuga

10. Honda e

11. Honda Jazz

12. Hyundai i10

13. Hyundai i20

14. Hyundai Tucson

15. Kia Sorento

16. Land Rover Defender

17. Mazda MX-30

18. Mercedes-Benz GLA

19. Mercedes-Benz GLB

20. Mercedes-Benz GLS

21. Mercedes-Benz S-Class

22. Peugeot 2008

23. Polestar 2

24. Seat Leon

25. Skoda Octavia

26. Toyota Mirai

27. Toyota Yaris

28. Volkswagen Golf

29. Volkswagen ID.3

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Richard Aucock
Richard Aucockhttps://www.richardaucock.co.uk/
Richard is director at Motoring Research. He has been with us since 2001, and has been a motoring journalist even longer. He won the IMCO Motoring Writer of the Future Award in 1996 and the acclaimed Sir William Lyons Award in 1998. Both awards are run by the Guild of Motoring Writers and Richard is currently vice chair of the world's largest organisation for automotive media professionals. Richard is also a juror and Steering Committee director for World Car Awards and the UK juror for the AUTOBEST awards.

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