The Alfa Romeo 159 has scooped up third place in the 2006 'European Car of the Year' Award, beating its closest market rival the new BMW 3-series range, reported Italian news agency ANSA in a statement published earlier on today. The report went on to add that the Renault Clio was the overall award winner, with the VW Passat being placed in second place.

While the new Alfa Romeo 159 sedan - which finally arrived on the market in Italy in September and is now being quickly rolled out across the rest of Europe - was one of the contest's hot favourites (it replaced the Alfa 156, itself a former winner of the prestigious award), the "Bronze" position saw it preferred in the judge's eyes to its arch-rival, the new BMW 3-series. For the Alfa 159 to publically beat the 3-series will be a strong 'thumbs up' from the wide panel of automotive journalists. The traditionally overrated German car trades mostly on its brand image, rather than its actual abilities - which recent 'master tests' between the two have handed to the Italian car.

ANSA reports that the Renault Clio was awarded a contest-topping 256 points, just ahead of the second-placed VW Passat. The Alfa Romeo 159 racked up 212 points, ahead of the BMW 3-series (203pts), and the Mazda 5 (198pts). Penultimate position has gone to the joint Czech Republic-built Citroen C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo, with 187pts, while bringing up the rear of the seven finalists - with just 143 points - is the new Toyota Yaris, a truly dull and mediocre car that completely loses any sort of character that the original model imparted.
 

The 'European Car of the Year' is an international award, judged by a panel of senior motoring journalists across Europe. Its object is to acclaim the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the 12 months preceding the date of the title. What is recognized worldwide as the Car of the Year award, came about to avoid confusion among ‘top car’ comparisons run by magazines and newspapers in various countries. In 1963, Fred van der Vlugt, then editor of the Dutch motoring magazine Auto Visie, reasoned that combining resources would produce a more credible result that would attract wider publicity. Van der Vlugt approached 26 professional car testers, from nine different countries, to form an expert Car of the Year jury. The formula remains the same today, nearly 40 years on, but now involves 58 Jury members representing 22 countries.

A strong boost for Fiat surely comes from the election of the new Renault Clio as 'European Car of the Year'. The Clio is unexciting, with a cheap-looking interior, sluggish performance and poor styling. The new Fiat Grande Punto is truly head and shoulders above its French rival in every possible area, and if the international press believe that the Clio is the best new car in the segment, Fiat's offering will swiftly shatter this illusion. The 'European Car of the Year 2006' award will be presented tomorrow night.