They started out as 24 candidates, were reduced to just seven, and yesterday the Toyota Corolla was announced as the big winner of the Essilor Car of the Year/Crystal Wheel Trophy 2020, thus succeeding the Peugeot 508.
The Japanese model was the most voted by a permanent jury, which the Automobile Ledger is part of , composed of 19 specialist journalists and “imposed itself” on six other finalists: BMW 1 Series, Kia XCeed, Mazda3, Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Skoda Scala.
Corolla's election comes after about four months of tests, during which the 28 candidates for the competition were tested in the most diverse parameters: design, behavior and safety, comfort, ecology, connectivity, design and construction quality, performance, price and consumptions.
General victory and not only
In addition to winning the Essilor Car of the Year/Crystal Wheel 2020 Trophy, the Toyota Corolla was also named “Hybrid of the Year”, surpassing the competition of the Hyundai Kauai Hybrid, Lexus ES 300h Luxury and Volkswagen Passat GTE.As for the winners in the remaining categories, here they are:
- City of the Year — Peugeot 208 GT Line 1.2 Puretech 130 EAT8
- Sport of the Year — BMW 840d xDrive Convertible
- Family of the Year — Skoda Scala 1.0 TSi 116hp Style DSG
- Big SUV of the Year — SEAT Tarraco 2.0 TDi 150hp Xcellence
- Compact SUV of the Year — Kia XCeed 1.4 TGDi Tech
- Streetcar of the Year — Hyundai Ioniq EV
Ecology as a central theme
As if to keep up with current trends in the automotive world, ecology was the central theme of this year's Essilor Car of the Year/Crystal Wheel 2020 Trophy, with the trophy's organizing committee creating two distinct classes for electric and hybrid cars.
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In addition to the attribution of prizes by class, the “Personality of the Year” and “Technology and Innovation” awards were also given. The “Personality of the Year” award was given to José Ramos, President and CEO of Toyota Caetano Portugal.
The “Technology and Innovation” award was given to Mazda's innovative Skyactiv–X technology, which, in short, allows a gasoline engine to ignite compression like a diesel engine thanks to the SPCCI system (so-called controlled compression ignition). spark).