{"id":271857,"date":"2026-01-07T08:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/271857\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T08:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:28:11","slug":"my-verdict-and-votes-on-the-seven-finalists-for-europes-car-of-the-year-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/271857\/","title":{"rendered":"My verdict \u2013 and votes \u2013 on the seven finalists for Europe\u2019s Car of the Year \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year again, when we score the seven finalists<\/a> for Europe\u2019s Car of the Year title. As one of 59 voting jury members from 23 countries, 25 points must be assigned over the cars<\/a>, with a maximum of 10 for any one car and at least five finalists receiving some score.<\/p>\n

The criteria is a wide mix of innovation, price, driving pleasure and the usual array of practicality, energy economy, plus a big dose of gut instinct. We\u2019ve tested them across motorways, gravel tracks, city streets, potholed back roads, race circuits and runways. We\u2019ve put them through high-speed lane changes \u2013 the famous elk test \u2013 and we\u2019ve spent hours interviewing the engineers who devoted years of their lives to develop these cars. <\/p>\n

Most recently, in December, we pitted the final seven to a mix of track testing and fantastically challenging local roads at ParcMotor Castelloli, 60km northwest of Barcelona.<\/p>\n

After all that time behind the wheel, here are my thoughts and scores for each of the seven finalists.<\/p>\n

Skoda Elroq \u2013 one point<\/b>\"SkodaSkoda Elroq, the Clarke\u2019s Shoes of new cars <\/p>\n

Skoda<\/a>\u2019s head of tech development and board member Johannes Neft pitches the Elroq<\/a> as a Czech-badged all-electric answer to the VW Golf. And it comes in a variety of power flavours, up to a sprightly RS. But it never quite captures the energy or enthusiasm of the famous German hatch. It\u2019s smart inside, but it\u2019s hard to get enthused by its driving dynamics, and a brake pedal that starts soft and spongy before applying hard bite doesn\u2019t help. For all the bold exterior colours, it\u2019s a relatively sober affair, the Clarke\u2019s Shoes of new cars.<\/p>\n

Renault 4 \u2013 one point<\/b>\"TheThe Renault 4 is a nice car to drive but could have delivered much more <\/p>\n

For all its strengths, this car has flaws. It promised Renault 5 driving character but with more practicality. True, the boot is big, but the footwell is still a problem, and a sliding rear bench would have made great sense. Instead, Renault opted to put the sliding bench in the upcoming Twingo city car. The R4<\/a>\u2019s cabin doesn\u2019t capture the quirkiness of the original either, which is a real shame. As it stands, this is a nice car to drive, but does it move the dial significantly from the Renault 5? No. It could have delivered so much more with just a few tweaks.<\/p>\n

Citro\u00ebn C5 Aircross \u2013 two points<\/b>\"CitroënCitro\u00ebn C5 Aircross, impressive for family needs <\/p>\n

Can you deliver Citro\u00ebn<\/a>\u2019s \u2018sofa on wheels\u2019 comfort while ironing out the wallowing ride quality? For decades, it has been the inevitable compromise required when you deliver a car that\u2019s able to tackle a series of speed bumps with a glass of water delicately balanced on the dash. This time, Citro\u00ebn may just have pulled it off. The C5 Aircross is smart, stylish, spacious, but most importantly, it delivers the supple ride quality without sacrificing so much body control. That said, pitch it against a proper rutted back road and you still bounce along. While it can\u2019t match Dacia\u2019s low-price promise, there are enough quality touches to justify the French brand\u2019s claim of delivering value for money. Offered as a hybrid or full electric, the latter claims 680km, which is impressive for family needs, even if in reality you are looking at 500km. For those who seek out affordable comfort, this car deserves to be on our shortlist.<\/p>\n

Dacia Bigster \u2013 three points<\/b>\"NewNew Dacia Bigster, impressive, if not inspiring <\/p>\n

The ambitions of Dacia deserve credit. Delivering a full-sized family SUV<\/a> for \u20ac30,000 is incredible in the current climate. And hitting that price point without leaving the buyer feeling short-changed is what the firm refers to as the \u201cDacia way\u201d. This means it gets the features buyers in this class expect \u2013 like a driver\u2019s electric seat and a power tailgate \u2013 but delivered in ways that cut costs. The hybrid version is let down by a gruff engine set-up that intrudes into the cabin under acceleration. It lacks much in the way of driving fun, but its ultra-functional format can compensate for that, and that\u2019s before you consider it\u2019s competing in a market where rivals are often \u20ac10,000 more expensive. Ultimately impressive, if not inspiring.<\/p>\n

Mercedes-Benz CLA \u2013 four points<\/b>\"NewThe new Mercedes CLA EV has an exceptional range <\/p>\n

The chief engineer for compact cars says people opt for CLA over C-Class because of styling, which is odd, for the saloon\u2019s look is certainly not its strongest suit. A new \u2018shooting brake\u2019 estate version is far better looking \u2013 and more practical \u2013 but in both instances, what makes this Mercedes<\/a>\u2019s star shine is when it gets on the road.<\/p>\n

The range is exceptional, claiming up to 792km in WLTP figures. From our latest test, we found it still had 109km left when the battery pack was down to 15 per cent, and we were running at an energy consumption of 22.3kWh\/100km.<\/p>\n

This leggy range sits alongside taut handling and wonderfully punchy acceleration, to make it a properly fun car to drive.<\/p>\n

Inside, it\u2019s all a bit too bling, but the tech stands up to scrutiny, and it offers AI-supported voice activation. Using both ChatGPT and Google\u2019s Gemini, the voice assistant can help while away the journey by guiding you through World Cup winners over the last 20 years, or whatever conversational cul-de-sac you wish to go down with your car.<\/p>\n

The new CLA comes as this all-electric version or a mild-hybrid petrol version. There are no plans for a plug-in hybrid.<\/p>\n

Fast, agile and full of range, the biggest hurdle to overcome is price, which is hefty for a car of this size. Then again, when Honda is charging \u20ac50,000 for the Civic, maybe this is just another example of the mad world we now live in.<\/p>\n

Fiat Grande Panda \u2013 six points<\/b>\"FiatFiat Grande Panda, a fun car to drive <\/p>\n

Bread and roses. James Oppenheim\u2019s poem, which became a slogan for labour movements, is evoked by Fiat when pitching its new Grande Panda<\/a>. It argues that every worker deserves not only fair wages but dignity, leisure, beauty, and a full human life. In motoring parlance, even if you are on a tight budget, you deserve more than dour basics.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a simple charm to the Grande Panda, and Fiat handles the retro appeal with aplomb. Those bouncy, body-rolling traits might seem unsophisticated these days \u2013 but, packaged with the retro triggers that make you hark back to the 1980s original, any handling foibles are forgiven, attributed to character.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the engineers have managed to capture the character of the old car, right down to its light and sometimes bouncy driving style, but also throw in just enough tech to make it modern. This is a fun car to drive, with a surprising amount of practical space. Quirky variants are in the pipeline, including a 4×4.<\/p>\n

This fun little Fiat delivers us our daily bread but gives us roses as well.<\/p>\n

Kia EV4 \u2013 eight points<\/b>\"KiaKia EV4, our choice for 2026 Car of the Year for Europe <\/p>\n

Solid and impressive, it has traits of the bigger EV6, the first Kia \u2013 and first Korean \u2013 to win Europe\u2019s Car of the Year crown back in 2022.<\/p>\n

This time, they\u2019ve come up with a spacious family hatchback that may carry a Korean badge but claims a European passport. Designed, developed, and now built in Europe, the EV4<\/a> is meant for our roads, and for the 45 per cent of motorists here who don\u2019t desire an SUV.<\/p>\n

\"NewKia EV4 during a Car of the Year ‘Elk test’ at an airfield in northern Denmark <\/p>\n

Kia has tested the car over 100,000km on public roads, along with 500 laps of the N\u00fcrburgring at 95 per cent of its top speed to ensure some hardcore degradation testing. The end result is an impressive all-electric hatch.<\/p>\n

Its engineers claim that with the EV4, you are \u201csitting in the car, not on the car\u201d. It\u2019s a bold claim, highlighting a regular flaw with many current electric cars, built on big \u201cskateboard\u201d chassis formats where underfloor battery packs leave drivers feeling disengaged. The EV4 might not completely overcome this sensation, but it comes very close, with a low seating position for the driver and a relatively low centre of gravity.<\/p>\n

What is delivered is a hatchback \u2013 and saloon-like \u2018fastback\u2019 \u2013 that\u2019s neat and tidy through the bends, composed in tricky turns and always engaging to drive. At the same time, it offers levels of comfort and refinement that make big motorway miles easy to tackle. For those in the back, Kia claims best-in-class rear legroom, although the high-knee\/low hip point that is created in the hatch will not suit everyone.<\/p>\n

The 81.4kWh battery pack also claims to be faster in real-life charging. Some, like the VW ID.3, can hit higher peaks of charging, but those rates quickly taper off, while Kia says its battery takes a steady, fast charge in a much flatter curve. The result? The EV4 owner is the first to unplug and drive away from the charging station, which they argue is what really matters.<\/p>\n

Put the practicality together with the driving dynamics, top it off with a smartly styled cabin and competitive pricing, and you can see why this all adds up to our choice for 2026 Car of the Year for Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s that time of year again, when we score the seven finalists for Europe\u2019s Car of the Year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,11911,31867,18,13,14,67438,6,19,17,55418,11,12,15,16,44700,8300,5,44701,55417,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-271857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-citroen","11":"tag-dacia","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-fiat","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-kia","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-mercedes-benz","25":"tag-motors","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-renault","28":"tag-skoda","29":"tag-top-stories","30":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115852876840208195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}