They started out as 23 candidates, were reduced to just 7 and yesterday, in a ceremony that took place at the Lisbon Secret Spot, in Montes Claros, in Lisbon, the Peugeot 508 was announced as the big winner of the Essilor Car of the Year/Crystal Wheel Trophy 2019, thus succeeding the SEAT Ibiza.
The French model was voted the most by a permanent jury, of which Razão Automóvel is a member, composed of 19 specialized journalists, representing the written press, digital media, radio and television (for the second consecutive year the three largest Portuguese television channels SIC, TVI and RTP were part of the jury).
The 508 election comes after about four months of tests during which the 23 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 consumption.
Peugeot 508 wins the general and not only
In the final election, the 508 surpassed the remaining six finalists (Audi A1, DS7 Crossback, Hyundai Kauai Electric, Kia Ceed, Opel Grandland X and Volvo V60), winning the trophy for the second time (the first had been in 2012).In addition to winning the most coveted of awards, the 508 also saw the jury elect it Executive of the Year, a class in which he beat the Audi A6 and Honda Civic Sedan.
All winners by class
Know all 2019 winners by class:
- City of the Year – Audi A1 1.0 TFSI (116 hp)
- Family of the Year – Kia Ceed Sportswagon 1.6 CRDi (136 hp)
- Executive of the Year – Peugeot 508 2.0 BlueHDI (160 hp)
- Big SUV of the Year – Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI (231 hp)
- Compact SUV of the Year – DS7 Crossback 1.6 Puretech (225 hp)
- Ecological of the Year – Hyundai Kauai EV 4×2 Electric
The Audi A1 Sportback was named City of the Year 2019.
In addition to awarding class awards, Personality of the Year and Technology and Innovation awards were also awarded. The Personality of the Year Award was awarded to Artur Martins, Vice President of Marketing at Kia Motors Europe.
The Technology and Innovation Award was given to Volvo's Oncoming Lane Mitigation by Braking system. This system makes it possible to detect vehicles that are going against the grain and, if a collision cannot be avoided, it automatically brakes and prepares the seat belts to help reduce the effects of the impact.
This year's edition of the trophy also counted as one of the main novelties with the introduction of voting by the public who could vote for their favorite model during the exhibition that took place at the end of January, at Campo Pequeno, in Lisbon, with the car most voted by the public for the selection of the seven finalists.