The current organising media of the award are Auto (Italy), Autocar (United Kingdom), Autopista (Spain), Autovisie (Netherlands), L'Automobile Magazine (France), Stern (Germany) and Vi Bilägare (Sweden).

Since 1977,[2] the jury gathers every late September at Hotel Tannishus in Tversted, Denmark to compare and test drive most of the eligible cars, an event also known as the Tannistest.

Nominees are judged on the following criteria: design, comfort, safety, economy, handling, performance, functionality, environmental requirements, driver satisfaction and price.

[7][8] From 2024, the Car of The Year jury contains 60 journalists from 23 countries: six each from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain, three from Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, two from Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and one each from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, Turkey and Romania.

Fiat missed out the following year 1968, however, when its 125 was pipped[clarification needed] to the award by the revolutionary new NSU Ro80, one of the first production cars to feature a rotary engine.

Peugeot claimed the accolade for the first time with the 1969 award, which was won by its 504 saloon, a large family car which offered a high standard of interior comfort and build quality.

Despite financial problems which led to its takeover by Peugeot that year, Citroën won the accolade in 1975 with its flagship CX saloon, which fought off a strong challenge from the highly acclaimed Volkswagen Golf.

Despite all the strife which troubled British Leyland throughout the 1970s, the state-owned carmaker achieved recognition for 1977 when its Rover 3500 executive car won the award.

This was the last time a British marque would win the contest (discounting the Vauxhall models which were badge engineered Opels) – until the Jaguar I-Pace took the crown in 2019.

Just before the sale of its European division to Peugeot, Chrysler achieved a success second in the contest with its Horizon, which won the 1979 award ahead of one of its main rivals, Fiat Ritmo/Strada.

Ford finally achieved success in the contest when the Escort MkIII, the first of that model line to feature front-wheel drive or a hatchback, sealed the award for 1981, fighting off competition from British Leyland's crucial Austin Metro supermini and the Fiat Panda.

Citroën's new XM flagship model won the award for 1990, with its French rival Renault scoring success a year later in 1991 with the new Clio supermini, which signalled the end for the iconic R5.

Ford achieved a fourth success in the contest when its boldly-styled Focus won the 1999 award, fighting off competition from the latest Vauxhall/Opel Astra as well as Peugeot's stylish 206 supermini.

In 2000, a Japanese manufacturer – this time with a Japanese-built product – won the award when the Toyota Yaris Hatchback and Yaris Verso Mini MPV earned top marks in Car of the Year Japan and European Car of the Year ahead of the boldly-styled Fiat Multipla and the practical Vauxhall/Opel Zafira compact MPV.

Ford's stylish and practical S-Max won the 2007 award, fighting off a close challenge from the Vauxhall/Opel Corsa, earlier versions of which had been largely overlooked by the contest's judges.

Fiat made in nine victories in the contest when it won the 2008 award with the 500 model, a retro-styled take on its iconic small car which had first been launched 50 years earlier.

[12] Then came two years of success for battery electric cars, with the British-built Nissan Leaf and United States-built (Opel) Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt winning the 2011 and 2012 award respectively.

[21][22] In 2020, the Peugeot 208 won the award at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, despite the 2020 event cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Switzerland's decision to impose a limit on gatherings of over 1,000 people.