The 58 members of the Jury has voted in the first round of the election of Car of the Year 2007 to select the finalists. From the 33 contenders nominated for the award this year they chose seven cars for the final short list. As expected the Fiat 500 makes the list and is joined by the Ford Mondeo, Kia cee'd, Mazda2, Mercedes C-class, Nissan Qashqai and Peugeot 308. 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 19th, 2007.

The Car of the Year Organising Committee is made up of managers from the seven prominent publications around Europe which take it in turn to organize the vote, publicise and promote the contest, and hold the prize giving ceremony. The Jury is completely independent of the Organising Committee in matters pertaining to the award itself - the selection of eligible cars and the voting. The seven organizers of Car of the Year are: Auto(Italy), Autocar (UK), Autopista (Spain), Autovisie (Holland), L'Automobile Magazine (France), Stern (Germany) and Vi Bilägare (Sweden). 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.
 

Fiat has an unrivalled record of success in the Car of the Year contest, and for this year's tilt at honours it can draw real inspiration from its last winner, the Panda, which came out on to in 2004, beating hands-down a cast that included the much-fancied VW Golf. The award was made even more sweet because the Panda at the time became the first ever A-segment winner of the Car of the Year contest; and now the 500, which is based around the Panda's architecture, has its own plans to make it a double victory for the smallest market segment.

"This model with city-car size offers the usefulness and equipment of a much bigger vehicle," said the Car of the Year Jury about the Panda during its summing up on the presentation of the award in 2004. "A single body style was enough for this tall mini to get general praise. Roominess and cabin flexibility , as well as the reputation of Fiat to conceive clever, practical small cars at very competitive prices, were behind the election. Driving position and high-mounted gear lever are a plus. While petrol engines go almost unnoticed, the impressive, fuel-sparing 1.3 Multijet diesel is quite unusual in the segment," the Jury concluded.