'Did you vote for the BMW?' That was the refrain that seemed to be running before the big announcement - the third annual Eurovision-style countdown at Geneva's Palexpo exhibition hall.
But Peugeot did it easily with its Peugeot 308, simply beating everyone else on sheer all-roundedness of their effort. It represents good progress for the company, and was well supported by jurors on mainland Europe, whereas the electric cars that excited the Brits - the second-placed BMW with 223 points and the Tesla with 216 - didn't get much support elsewhere. Still, this was solid backing for new technology, which isn't going away.
BMW's management must have been a bit nonplussed however. Their cars have been ignored for the past half century by the jury of (currently) 58 jurors from 22 countries, not least because successive Bavarian managements have tended to scorn the award and make driving eligible cars difficult for the Car of the Year's jurors' timetable.
That sort of thing never goes down well with 58 hacks considered to be among the best in Europe. But this time they had a real go.
The other four contenders were well beaten, without being shamed. but notable was the fact that the Mercedes S-class, clearly the most accomplished car of all came last with 170 points. As a colleague put it, what do they have to do?
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A Long Road
Unfortunately in this country both journalist and public alike are badge obsessed car snobs and seemingly only the German badge is good enough! The French actually have something more interesting in their lives to do rather than wash their cars every Sunday or spend most of Saturday in Halfords - which may explain why Peugeot has been making such inferior cars as the 307. But now Peugeot are beginning to realise that it is simply not enough to focus on your home market, especially in country which has such low growth rate.
PS Glad the S-Class came last - In the UK the S Class is becoming as unpopular as a Rover 800 Vanden Plas.
Good Win for 308
The fact that it's not an aspirationally-obsessed German offering only adds to its appeal.
Well, you got me there
Two conventional cars preceded by two ground-breaking cars. hmm! There is hint of a method to Euro COTY madness!