Jeep Avenger wins Car of the Year award at Brussels motor show

1 year, 11 months ago - 17 January 2023, autocar

Jeep's first EV took the prestigious award ahead of the Kia Niro, Renault Austral and Toyota bZ4X, among others

The Jeep Avenger has officially been named the 2023 Car of the Year at the Brussels International motor show after a judging panel comprising 57 leading motoring journalists from 23 countries cast their votes.

The all-electric Avenger, which arrives this year as Jeep's first electric car, was awarded the prestigious title ahead of six other shortlisted contenders and follows the Kia EV6, which took the prize last year.

The Jeep was a clear winner, with 328 points. Second was the Volkswagen ID Buzz, which scored 241 points, with the Nissan Ariya third (211 points).

The Kia Niro finished fourth (200 points), followed by the Renault Austral (163 points).

Rounding off the seven-car shortlist was the Peugeot 408 (149 points) and the Subaru Solterra/Toyota bZ4X (133 points).

The Avenger joins an acclaimed list of winners, including the Toyota Yaris in 2021, the Peugeot 208 in 2020 and the Jaguar I-Pace in 2019.

Other previous battery-electric winners include 2011’s Nissan Leaf, which impressed because of its versatile combination of a 107bhp motor and a 24kWh battery, which provided 80 miles of achievable range.

Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Car of the Year award was established in 1964 and was first handed out to the 110bhp Rover 2000. The award is supported by nine automotive publications across Europe, including Autocar.

With Russian votes suspended this year, the jury number sits at 57 compared with 61 in 2020. Each point awarded by the judging panel is totalled to determine the overall winner.

Every jury member has 25 points to award and may give no more than 10 points to any single car. Each judge must distribute points between at least five cars. Major factors under consideration include technical innovation and value for money.

The 2021 awards took place at the Palexpo exhibition centre in Geneva, Switzerland, which was due to host the Geneva International Motor Show, but the event was cancelled for the third year running due to the coronavirus outbreak.