Peugeot 308 wins European Car of the Year 2014

By Ollie Kew

Motor Industry

03 March 2014 14:30

The Peugeot 308 has won the 2014 European Car of the Year award. The new family hatchback fought off competition from the likes of the tech tour de force Mercedes S-class and slick-driving new Mazda 3 to take the gong.

The 308 also bested BMW’s i3 EV, which won the UK Car of the Year award, and the acclaimed Tesla Model S electric saloon.

Peugeot’s triumph follows two wins for plug-in vehicles in four years. Vauxhall’s Ampera range-extender took top honours in 2012, after the Nissan Leaf EV came up trumps in 2011. Last year’s winner was the car the Peugeot must beat in showrooms: the Mk7 VW Golf.

CAR has driven each Car of the Year (CotY) nominee: click the links below to reach the verdicts

BMW i3 – carbonfibre EV teams minimalist cabin with outlandish looks and spritely performance

Citroen C4 Picasso – new MPV style queen has clean engines and an even cleaner interior design

Mazda 3 – the new family hatchback riving benchmark, with revvy turbo-free petrol engines

Mercedes S-class – the car that can see for itself, practically drive itself, and give occupants a hot stone massage

Peugeot 308 – the victor: teeny steering wheel and touchscreen-centric cabin wrapped up in smart, understated body

Skoda Octavia – the cousin of VW’s Golf and Audi’s A3, only with more space and less to pay

Tesla Model S – electric limo will out-accelerate a BMW M5

The seven CotY finalists are shortlisted from a 32-strong crop of nominees, selected by 59 motoring journalists from 23 countries.

The CotY jury, which counts CAR magazine’s editor Phil McNamara and european editor Georg Kacher among its number, says its goal is ‘to acclaim the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the [last] 12 months.’

Every area of a car’s repertoire is considered and evenly weighted, from value for money, innovation and practicality to performance, handling and driver satisfaction.

By Ollie Kew