The final shortlist for the Car of the Year 2007 award has been announced, and the new Fiat Grande Punto hatchback has made it into the last stage of the voting for the world's most prestigious automotive award. The Car of the Year is an international award, judged by a panel of senior motoring journalists from important magazines across Europe. Its object is to acclaim the most outstanding new car to go on sale in the twelve month period preceding the date of the title.

From the 41 contenders put forward this year for the award, the 58 members of the jury have nominated eight cars for the final short list, as there was a tie in points for the seventh place. They were as follows: Citroën C4 Picasso, Fiat Grande Punto, Ford S-Max, Honda Civic, Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 207, Skoda Roomster and Volvo C30. For the final vote, Jury members have to apportion 25 points among at least five of the cars, providing a written justification of their choice. The result will be announced on November 13th, 2006.

Of the 41 nominees on the entry list, three Fiat Auto models failed to make it to the last voting round. These contenders were the new Alfa Brera and its convertible sister, the Spider, and also from Fiat, the new four wheel drive Sedici 'crossover'. Last year the Alfa 159 saloon was placed third overall, while Fiat's most recent overall winner was the Panda in 2004, the first time in fact an A-segment car had ever scooped this prestigious award.

What is recognized today worldwide as the Car of the Year award, actually came about to avoid confusion among ‘top car’ comparisons run by magazines and newspapers in various countries. In 1963, Fred van der Vlugt, then the 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 voting formula remains the same today, over 40 years on, but now it involves 58 jury members who in turn represent 22 countries.
 

The object of Car of the Year is to find a single, decisive winner. The voting process is designed for that purpose, and not to provide a scale of merit of all competing cars. There are no categories, sub-divisions or class winners. Obviously this requires the Jury to assess cars of very different types and price, which means assessing them against their market rivals. The 58 members of the Car of the Year Jury all test cars as part of their journalistic work. In selecting the car of the year they use the following criteria: design, comfort, safety, economy, handling, performance, functionality, environmental requirements, driver satisfaction, and price. Technical innovation and value for money are particularly important factors.

In September, the Jury Committee draws up a list of eligible cars from all the newcomers presented over the previous 12 months. Eligible cars must be essentially new models, not simply changed cosmetically or by the installation of new engine or a transmission. They are considered irrespective of their country of origin but must be available in at least five European countries at the time of voting and have an expected sales volume of 5,000 a year. The Jury then elects a short list of seven cars in a simple vote. For the second stage, each Jury member has 25 points to apportion to at least five cars, with a maximum of 10 points for any one of them, and produces a statement of justification for the vote, which is published at the time of the award presentation.

From the initial founders, AutoVisie, Stern and ViBilägare still remain, while Spanish magazine Autopista was invited into the group in the 1980s, and then some further sponsor changes took place in UK, Italy and France. The Car of the Year 2007 is organized in Holland by Autovisie. Accordingly, Roeland Mackloet, representing Autovisie, is the President of the Organizing Committee for this edition. The Car of the Year 2007 winner will be announced on November 13th, 2006 simultaneously across Europe. The trophy presentation will take place in Amsterdam, on  January 22nd, 2007.