Volvo XC40 Named European Car of the Year

At the Geneva Motor Show, the XC40 was awarded the title of European Car of the Year by votes from journalists and automotive experts in Europe. This is the first time Volvo has achieved this accolade. The reasons for this recognition include the vehicle's high safety ratings along with its features considering its price. The crossover nature of the vehicle also played a role in the judges' selection. For the European Car of the Year award, 60 journalists from 23 European countries provided their opinions based on criteria such as design, comfort, safety, maintenance costs, handling, performance, everyday usability, environmental standards compliance, driver satisfaction, and price, awarding points to seven final candidates. Each journalist had a total of 25 points to distribute among the selected cars, with a maximum of 10 points per model. The results were announced one day before the Geneva Motor Show commenced. Following the Volvo XC40, the Spanish hatchback Seat Ibiza came in second with 242 votes, BMW Series 5 in third with 226 votes, Kia Stinger with 204 votes, Citroën C3 Aircross with 171 votes, Audi A8 with 169 votes, and Alfa Romeo with 163 votes, ranking fourth to seventh respectively. The XC40 is considered Volvo's smallest crossover and competes globally with the Mercedes-Benz GLA and Audi Q3. The car is priced at $35,000. The base model features a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 185 horsepower and 265 Nm of torque. The stronger version also has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a capacity of two liters that can produce 248 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque. This vehicle includes features such as automatic braking with pedestrian and animal detection, automatic parking, semi-autonomous driving, adaptive cruise control, and lane-keeping assistance. In 2017, the Peugeot 3008 was awarded the European Car of the Year title, and now in 2018, another crossover has achieved this title. It seems that interest in crossover vehicles is increasing in the European market. Crossovers are semi-SUV products developed on passenger car platforms, possessing some characteristics of both passenger cars and SUVs. Their fuel consumption is not as high as that of SUVs, but they also lack off-road capabilities. Similarities between passenger cars and crossovers can be seen in aspects such as more attractive design and greater comfort inside the cabin, as well as more efficient fuel consumption closer to that of passenger cars. These vehicles also have some SUV characteristics, such as the ability to add a third row of seats and the ability to fold down the rear seats to increase cargo space. However, their height is usually less than that of SUVs, and they do not have an independent chassis like SUVs.