The latest Volkswagen Passat, which launched in Britain earlier this year, has won the 2015 European Car of the Year accolade. This victory for the family car was announced just before the start of the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.
This year’s European Car of the Year Award was overseen by a jury consisting of 58 motoring journalists from 22 countries across Europe. An initial shortlist of 31 cars were drawn for this year’s accolade, before the new Passat was picked as one of seven finalists.
Contenders which the Passat saw off to win this year included the Citroen C4 Cactus, which was runner-up this year, and the Mercedes C-Class, which came third. Other finalists for this year's accolade included the Nissan Qashqai, Renault Twingo, BMW 2 Series Active Tourer and the Ford Mondeo – one of the Passat’s main rivals.
Intriguingly, if this year’s European car award was decided by the six British judges alone, it would have been the unconventionally-designed C4 Cactus that would have come out on top. When totting up the votes of all the judges across Europe, however, the Passat ultimately proved a comfortable winner.
The Passat is the third Volkswagen to be named European Car of the Year in the current decade. It follows victories for VW’s Polo back in 2010 and for the latest Golf which won in 2013.
The Volkswagen Passat is available in saloon and estate body styles, with prices starting from £22,215 for the former and £23,745 for the latter. The new Passat introduces a more sophisticated design for both the exterior and interior when compared to its predecessor. It also increased cabin and boot space and is currently offered strictly with a selection of 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesel engines.
Towards the end of summer, the new Passat range is set to expand with the arrival of a plug-in hybrid version – called the Passat GTE. This features both a 1.4-litre petrol engine and an electric motor for a combined output of over 260bhp, while CO2 emissions are estimated at just 45g/km. Volkswagen also says that with a full tank of fuel and fully charged battery, the Passat GTE can offer a driving range of over 620 miles.
