IAB Report - Several India-bound models are candidates for the 2015 European Car of the Year
The jury of the 2015 European Car Of The Year award have announced 33 cars in the provisional list of candidates after the first screening process. The final list of 31 candidates will be released by 1st December, 2014.
To enter this contest, the car should be a new vehicle on sale now or before end of 2015 in 5 or more European markets with a possibility to cross a sales mark of 5,000 units annually.
After the final list of candidates are chosen, there will be two voting processes, the first of which will shortlist seven nominees by 15 December, 2014, followed by the second one that finalizes the winner which is to be announced on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show on 2 March, 2015.
The following are the cars in the provisional list stacked into three groups for easy assimilation for Indian readers.
Cars available (and to be available) in Indian market:
- Audi TT Coupe
- Ford EcoSport (also enjoys the distinction of the only India-made car in the roster)
- Hyundai i20
- Mercedes-Benz C Class
- Porsche Macan
- Suzuki Celerio
- Volkswagen Passat
- Mercedes-Benz GLA
Cars withdrawn from Indian market:
- Opel Corsa
- Nissan X-Trail
- Skoda Fabia
Cars not available in Indian market:
- BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
- BMW 2 Series Coupe
- BMW i8
- BMW X4
- Citroen C1
- Citroen C4 Cactus
- Fiat 500X
- Ford Mondeo
- Infiniti Q50
- Jeep Renegade
- Kia Soul
- Lexus NX
- Lexus RC
- Mercedes-Benz S Class Coupe
- Nissan Pulsar
- Nissan Qashqai
- Peugeot 108
- Renault Twingo
- Smart ForTwo
- Smart ForFour
- Subaru WRX STI
- Toyota Aygo
The 2014 European Car of the Year was bagged by the Peugeot 308 with 307 points.