The finalists for the “Car of the Year in Europe” competition have been announced: for the first time, all contenders are electric vehicles.
The organizers of Europe’s Car of the Year (COTY) competition have announced the seven finalists for the 2027 award. For the first time in the competition’s 63-year history, all cars that made it to the finals are equipped exclusively with electric powertrains.
Seven contenders for the European crown
The finalists were selected from the cars that applied to participate in the competition. They will compete for the title of Europe’s best car, which was awarded to the Mercedes-Benz CLA last year. The final seven include models from various classes and formats, ranging from compact urban electric vehicles to larger SUVs. The jury will evaluate technology level, engineering solutions, performance characteristics, equipment, and the price-to-quality ratio.
List of finalists (in alphabetical order):
BMW iX3
Cupra Raval
Hyundai Ioniq 3
Kia EV2
Renault Twingo
Volkswagen ID.Polo
Volvo EX60
A historic turning point in the competition’s history
The main feature of this year’s final is the complete absence of vehicles with internal combustion engines. All seven contenders are fully electric cars.
This is the first time such a situation has occurred in the 63-year history of the European award. In the past, the finals traditionally included models with various types of powertrains, including gasoline, diesel, hybrid, and electric ones. Recent years have seen a growing presence of electric vehicles. In 2024, the winner was the Renault Scenic, and in 2025, it was the Renault 5 E-Tech. However, in 2026, the award went to the Mercedes-Benz CLA, which is available with both electric and conventional powertrains. Now, all contenders for the European automotive title represent the electric vehicle segment exclusively.
When will the winner be announced?
On November 25th and 26th, members of the international jury will conduct final tests on the seven finalists at the Balocco test track in Italy. There, the vehicles will be able to showcase their capabilities under identical conditions. After that, the jury members have until December 31st to vote. Each judge will assign 25 points among the finalists, with no single model’s maximum score exceeding 10 points.
The winner of the 2027 Car of the Year competition will be announced on January 8th at the Brussels Motor Show. It was there that the award ceremonies for the previous three editions of the prize took place. Thus, regardless of which model receives Europe’s top automotive title, the 2027 competition will already go into history as the first final round composed entirely of electric vehicles.