The seven car shortlist for the European Car of the Year award 2006 has been announced.
Challengers for the award which will be announced next month, include two of the latest generation superminis, three medium-sized upmarket saloons, a MPV and a trio of city cars with French and Japanese badges that's treated as one entry.
Currently in the judging ring are the third generation Renault Clio, second generation Toyota Yaris, Alfa Romeo 159, BMW 3-series, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda5 and the Toyota Aygo/ CitroënC1/Peugeot 107. These last three are all built at the same joint venture plant in the Czech Republic with identical engin eering and power trains.
If they were to come out as winner, it would mean three companies claiming the title, unprecedented in the 40 plus year history of the European award.
Toyota and Peugeot-Citroën or PSA presented the cars jointly at a Geneva motor show event earlier this year. The real differences are in matters like marketing, price and warranty-the French only give two years cover while Toyota offer three.
The seven car shortlist was whittled down from a much bigger list of 28 cars. Posh and exotic models like the Mercedes S-Class and the Porsche Cayman didn't make it. Opel/Vauxhall must be bitterly disappointed that its new second generation Zafira MPV isn't in there either.
The Suzuki Swift also failed to get in, even though it was acknowledged to be one of this year's outstanding small cars.
Judging is done by a panel of 58 leading motoring writers from 22 countries including Ireland. The panel embraces former Eastern countries like Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary: Turkey is also represented. Each of the 58 journalists distributes 25 points among the seven cars with ten being the maximum allowed for any one car.
Andrew Hamilton represents Ireland on the European Car of the Year jury
The contenders:
Renault Clio
Toyota Yaris
Alfa Romeo 159
BMW 3-series
Volkswagen Passat
Mazda5
Toyota Aygo
CitroënC1
Peugeot 107