WELL, THE NEW Fiat Panda is not a sports car. But the International Car of the Year jury is one of the far most important titles, so here we go. The COTY is composed of 58 senior motoring journalists representing 22 European countries, has just voted the new Fiat Panda Car of the Year 2004.

With 281 votes, the Fiat Panda beat the Mazda3 (241), Volkswagen Golf (241), Toyota Avensis (219), Opel/Vauxhall Meriva (213), BMW 5 Series (144) and the Nissan Micra (111).

As well as being the resounding overall winner of Car of the Year 2004, the ultra-compact Fiat also attracted votes from the widest number of jury members: 55 out of 58 included the Panda in their nominations, while no less than 16 rated it top of their list.

This prestigious accolade for the new Panda underlines the remarkable record of achievement by Fiat Auto in these nominations. No less than five of the last 10 annual Car of the Year awards have been won by Fiat Auto: Fiat Punto in ’95,
Fiat Bravo/Brava in ’96, Alfa 156 in ’98, Alfa 147 in ’01 and now Fiat Panda in ’04.

This is the first time that an A-segment model has won the most prestigious accolade in the car industry.

The Car of the Year award ceremony, this year organised by the French L’Automobile Magazine, will take place in Paris on 19 January 2004.

Car of the Year was launched in 1964. In order to be admitted to the competition, new cars have to be commercially launched in at least five different European countries during the course of the year. The following parameters are then assessed: design, comfort, safety, fuel economy, driveability, performance, practicality, respect for the environment, price and value for money.

A shortlist is made from all the new models launched by the industry during the year, and seven finalists go forward to be judged. Each member of the jury has 25 points to award among the seven cars, with a maximum of 10 points for the first choice.

CARS OF THE YEARS - next page