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Europe's Car of the Year 2011 shortlist announced

The 41 contenders for Europe's 2011 Car of the Year trophy have been whittled down to the final seven as the European CoTY shortlist is announced today. The winner will be voted for by 59 of Europe's most influential motoring journalists, including two CAR writers: editor Phil McNamara and European editor Georg Kacher. The 2010 winner - by just 10 points ahead of the Toyota iQ - was the Volkswagen Polo. Like the Eurovision Song Contest, Car of the Year has proved controversial in the past with accusations of block-voting and blind patriotism, yet the award remains one of the most prestigious in the motor industry.

Ford Verve Sedan

Just as Mazda is exhibiting a sedan version of the 2 at Auto Guangzhou, the automaker's parent company, Ford, is revealing a sedan version of the Verve concept. The second in a series of concepts that will culminate with yet another variant set to be unveiled in Detroit, this 'notchback' provides further insight to the future small car design direction for Ford. Ford's European design team, which created the Verve concepts, applied Ford's kinetic design philosophy and built on the look of its hatchback sibling.

Nissan LEAF: Fleet sales double

Nissan has revealed that fleet sales of its electric LEAF have doubled in the UK, with overall Nissan fleet sales up 9 per cent. Sales of electric cars are not exactly stellar, but there is a light at the end of a very long tunnel shining dimly on UK EV sales – the fleet sector. Nissan has reported that its fleet sales in the UK – with 89 per cent of all fleets sales of cars actually built in the UK – has risen by 9 per cent so far in 2012, but the Nissan LEAF EV has seen its fleets sales more than double.