Currently reading: Peugeot 208 wins 2020 European Car of the Year award
French supermini takes prestigious award ahead of Tesla Model 3 and Porsche Taycan

The Peugeot 208 has won the European Car of the Year Award, taking the trophy by a comfortable margin over the Tesla Model 3.

The French supermini was named the winner of the prestigious award in a ceremony hosted at the Palexpo exhibition centre, where the Geneva motor show was due to begin tomorrow (Tuesday) until it was cancelled.

Notably, the top four finishers in this year's award were either pure electric vehicles, or offered full electric versions among a range of powertrain options.

The 208, which is offered with both combustion engines and electric powertrains, took a clear win when the votes from the jury were added up. It scored 281 points, ahead of two full EVs: the Model 3, which scored 242 points, and the Porsche Taycan (222 points).

The Renault Clio, a class-rival to the 208 also offered with petrol engines and full elecric options, took fourth ahead of the Ford Puma. The Toyota Corolla was sixth, with the BMW 1 Series seventh.

Peugeot boss Jean-Philippe Imperato said winning the award was "a great honour". He added: "We love cars, and we recoginise the Car of the Year jury is made up of experts, so we are honoured to win. It's a big surprise and a big pleasure for us."

Peugeot has enjoyed plenty of success in the Car of the Year award in recent years, previously winning in 2014 with the Peugeot 308 and 2017 with the Peugeot 3008

In total, the French firm has now won the trophy six times, with the 504 (1969), 405 (1988) and 307 (2002) also taking top honours.

The Car of the Year award is run by seven European motoring publications, which include Autocar. The award is voted on by a jury comprising 60 journalists, including Autocar's Matt Prior and Andrew Frankel, from 23 countries.

The Car of the Year award was established in 1964, with the Rover 2000 taking honours.

The fully electric Jaguar I-Pace won the prize last year.

READ MORE

Car of the year 2020: the shortlist

Jaguar I-Pace wins 2019 Car of the Year award

Peugeot 308 review

Slideshow: every Car of the Year - and how they fared

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

Peugeot needs its all-new family hatch to be a hit. Is it up to the job?

James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

Join the debate

Comments
5
Add a comment…
seljon 2 March 2020

Revolutionary car or same old

When faced with a car that is tearing up the rule book, revolutionising personal transport and threatening complacent European manufacturers you would expect European journalists to cling to old certainties. The 208 is a good looking car and slightly innovative in offering different drivetrains but is no more remarkable than most other winners of this award. Tesla is too much for conventional journalists to bear and a US manufacturer to boot. Oh well, they will catch up to the new realities eventually.
typos1 3 March 2020

seljon wrote:

seljon wrote:

When faced with a car that is tearing up the rule book, revolutionising personal transport and threatening complacent European manufacturers you would expect European journalists to cling to old certainties. The 208 is a good looking car and slightly innovative in offering different drivetrains but is no more remarkable than most other winners of this award. Tesla is too much for conventional journalists to bear and a US manufacturer to boot. Oh well, they will catch up to the new realities eventually.

Or maybe they just preferred the 208, I do - Teslas, for all their electric innovation, are just soulless. And Tesla hasnt "torn up the rule book" since 2013 when the Model S was released.

Rick Maverick 2 March 2020

Peugeot extends its winning streak

Most profitable car manufacturer.  Most reliable brand.  3 consecutive years Engine of the Year 3 pot. 

superstevie 2 March 2020

This is a good result to me.

This is a good result to me. It is a great looking small car, apparently drives neatly, has a good interior (although I am sure it isn't to everyone's tastes), and comes with the full range of engine options. I think it is a great idea of PSA to have their cars engineered for petrol diesel and electric

Old But not yet Dead 4 March 2020

Nothing original

Hyundai did that with the Ioniq three years ago.