European win sees it edge out Volkswagen Passat and five other contenders
Renault's third generation Clio supermini has been voted European Car of the Year 2006. From a seven-strong shortlist, it emerged as the winner just five points ahead of the Volkswagen Passat. The Clio attracted 256 points to 251 for the Passat, 212 for the Alfa Romeo 159 and 203 for the BMW 3-series.
Voting was by a jury of 58 leading motoring journalists from 22 countries including Ireland. They had 25 points to allocate among the seven cars, giving no more than ten points to any one car.
It is the French manufacturer's sixth win in the prestigious award scheme, which was inaugurated in 1964.
The first success was scored in 1966 with the 16: other winners included the first generation Clio in 1991, the Scenic MPV in 1997 and the Megane in 2003.
The outcome of the 2006 award was seen as one of the most unpredictable, particularly because no clear favourite emerged at any stage.
The 2005 European title is held by Toyota's innovative hybrid Prius and at this time last year it won by a decisive 139 points over runner-up Citroën C4. The green and clean credentials of the Prius through its electric power facility was a major influence.
Some jury members felt the contenders for the 2006 title were good or merely competent but not exceptional with no car deserving or meriting the maximum ten points. Nevertheless, two jurists gave the ten points maximum to the BMW 3-series while four others likewise awarded ten out of ten to the Mazda 5, the Clio, the Passat and the trio of Citroen C1, Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo .
C1, 107 and Aygo were treated as one entry because these city cars are identically engineered and built at the same production facility in the Czech Republic.
The supposedly nationalistic French didn't embrace the Clio very enthusiastically with only one of their six-jury panel giving it eight out of ten.
Three others gave it five points, one six and one seven. In Italy, the six jury members were even more lukewarm about the Alfa 159. Two awarded it four points, two three points, one two points and one gave it nothing at all. In spite of its 2005 win with Prius, most disappointed manufacturer was probably Toyota whose second generation Yaris came in at the bottom of the seven short list with just 143 points.
The first generation Yaris had won the award in 2000 and Toyota engineers believed that the much enhanced Yaris II, with bigger but still compact dimensions and enhanced driving manners, would influence the jury.
Andrew Hamilton has represented Ireland on the European Car of the Year jury since 1980. He awarded seven points to the Mazda 5 for bringing "fresh innovation" into the medium MPV sector and delivering "the most versatile and complete interior package in the class" .
He gave six points to the Toyota Yaris: "a small car with a bigger car feel". The VW Passat received five points, the Alfa 159 four, the Renault Clio two and the Citroën C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo 1.