Who will succeed the Peugeot 208 elected Car of the Year 2020?
Last year, the 60 European journalists taking part in this election, including a member of the editorial staff of Le Figaro, voted overwhelmingly for the city-dweller Sochaux.
Sacred with 281 points, the Peugeot 208 was ahead of the Tesla Model 3 by 39 points and the Porsche Taycan by 59 points.
Casually
, the
Car of the Year
(COTY) institution had favored electric cars.
This has not always been the case in the history of this trophy.
The Peugeot 208 is indeed offered in a 100% electric version.
In 2019, it is already an electric car that had the honors of the election since the Jaguar i-Pace had won the bet in extremis against the Alpine A110.
Can history rewrite itself in 2021?
A sign of the times, the seven finalists are electrified vehicles.
Three of them run on electric power and the catalog of the four others includes at least one hybrid or plug-in hybrid version.
As often in the context of this election, small cars are well represented.
Completely renewed and even available in a new sporty GR version of 261 hp, the fourth generation of the Toyota Yaris appears in the final.
This is also the case with the Fiat 500 Electric which made a strong impression during the first tests.
Another strong candidate, the Volkswagen ID.3 marks the start of the German group's great electric offensive.
The only car to defend the French colors, the latest Citroën C4 is also one of the only two sedans in the final, along with the fourth generation of the Skoda Octavia.
If it has the advantage of being available in a 100% electric version, the C4 goes off the beaten track with its raised architecture.
Among the seven finalists, the Cupra Formentor is also more of the raised sedan than of the real SUV.
Reaching the final is a sacred reward for Luca de Meo, the architect of the conversion of the Cupra label into a full brand.
This body which will have no equivalent in the Seat range will be offered with seven engines, gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid.
Concentrating criticism, are SUVs no longer successful within the COTY institution?
Like last year, only one SUV is in the final selection.
But with the Land Rover Defender, the jury members voted for the most quirky of them.
Unrecognizable, this new generation encased in electronics will be available in a plug-in hybrid version.
The seven finalists will be the subject of a (last) confrontation during the month of February, before the final vote.
The results will be released in early March.
