The election of the car of the year (COTY) on the European market is a ritual conducted by a jury of around sixty automotive journalists from 22 different countries. After being able to discover and test the models, sometimes even before the rest of the press, the jury votes and crowns a car from among the many contenders.
Seven models are selected to appear in the final. For 2024, the BMW 5 Series/i5, BYD Seal, Kia EV9, Peugeot 3008/e-3008, Renault Scenic E-Tech Electric, Toyota C-HR and Volvo EX30 were selected, among a total of 28 contending cars.
A Scenic reinvented and rewarded again
It was the Renault Scenic E-Tech electric which stood out as the successor to the Jeep Avenger, awarded in 2023. The Scenic became an electric compact SUV on the occasion of its sixth generation, taking over the platform and most of the technologies of the Megane E-tech electric. Remember that the Renault Scenic had already received the title of car of the year in 1997 with its very first generation, then called Mégane Scenic.
The new electric Scenic will notably have to face competition from the Peugeot e-3008. The lion’s compact SUV indeed offers an electric version for the first time in its career. The 3008 was also among the cars contending for the title of car of the year 2024. The first tests of the model in an electric version are, however, not as positive as what Peugeot had told us accustomed, mainly because of a high mass detrimental to road behavior, while the 3008 was previously the reference for its category.
The BMW 5 Series and its electric version i5 received the second highest number of points, at 308 points compared to 329 for the Renault Scenic. The Peugeot 3008 completes the podium with 197 points.