Seven shortlisted for Car of the Year title

Seven new cars have made it onto the shortlist for the prestigious Car of the Year award in Europe. The seven are: Audi A4; BMW 7-series; Jaguar XE; Mazda MX-5; Opel Astra; Skoda Superb; and Volvo XC90.

In what is likely to be a very interesting competition this year, the shortlisted finalists offer a range of propositions, from excellent value for money, to modern tech and luxury refinement and finally to old-school driving fun. It includes a battle between two direct rivals, the Audi A4 and Jaguar XE.

The award for the best new car launched each year, now in its 52 year, is judged over a 12 month process by 58 jury members from 22 European countries. Member publications in the award include Auto (Italy); Autocar (UK); Autopista (Spain); Stern (Germany). This reporter is the Irish jury member for the awards.

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Shortlisted for car of the year 2016: Skoda Superb

Along with media-wide test events during the year, several independent test sessions are organised by the jury members to test the cars, the most significant taking place in a rural area of northern Denmark in the autumn. That session, running for a week and involving more than 40 car models and variants also includes tests at a closed airfield, where safety equipment is tested and dynamic handling characteristics are measured.

In February jurors will gather again to put the seven finalists through their paces at the Ceram teset track at Mortefontaine, outside Paris. The independent technical test facility is rented by jury members and cars undergo a range of driving and dynamic tests during the sessions.

The final vote to determine the single winner will be cast on late February 2016. Each juror will apportion 25 points among at least five nominees and will state his/her voting criteria.The winner will be revealed on the eve of the Geneva Motorshow on February 29th, 2016.