Peugeot 308 wins car of the year title for 2014

The new Peugeot 308 has been named car of the year for Europe 2014. Announced on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show, the french family car won by a sizeable margin over the BMW i3 in second place and the Tesla Model S in third.

Maxime Picat, director general of Peugeot said he was delighted and surprised with the victory. "This prize is very important for us because it comes from a very diverse group of journalists from across Europe who gave us detailed opinions and feedback on the work of our team."

Asked what it meant for the Peugeot brand, which has suffered financially in recent years, Mr Picat said: “I would say we need a lot of feedback, from customers and from journalists. Obivously the prize recognises the ability of the brand to innovate but also to get closer to the best in terms of quality.”

The new 308 is the fourth Peugeot model to be distinguished by the European Car of the Year award. It comes after the Peugeot 307 in 2002, the 405  in 1988 and the 504 in 1969. Produced at Sochaux in France, the new 308 was launched in Europe during the last four months of 2013 and arrived in Irish Dealerships in late December.

With each of the 58 jury members casting a maximum of 25 points between the seven cars, with a maximum of 10 for any one car, the final votes were: Peugeot 308 - 307; BMW i3 - 223; Tesla Model S - 216; Citroën C4 Picasso - 182; Mazda3 - 180; Skoda Octavia - 172; and Mercedes-Benz S-Class - 170.