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Renault scores back-to-back COTY wins

Renault 5/Alpine A290 takes prestigious European Car of the Year award.
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10 January 2025

Renault has won the coveted European Car of the Year award for a second successive year with its Renault 5 and Alpine A290 hot hatch sister.

The announcement, on the opening day of the Brussels Motor Show, follows the French brand’s success in the 2024 awards with the Scenic E-Tech.

Formerly a fairly minor show, the Brussels event has assumed new importance on the European automotive market since the demise of the Geneva Motor Show and this year’s event features five models making their world debut and 14 seen for the first time in Europe.

A jury of 60 judges, primarily leading motoring journalists in 23 countries judged the COTY awards, the final vote involving a shortlisted seven models. The Renault/Alpine pairing was placed first by 25 of the judges ahead of the much-fancied Kia EV3.

In total the Renault/Alpine small EV, which is due on UK roads in 2025, soared 353 points, the Kia securing 291 well ahead of third-placed finisher the Citroën C3/e-C3 on 215 points.

The listing was completed by the Dacia Duster (172 points), the Hyundai Inster (168), Cupra Terramar (165) and Alfa Romeo Junior (136).

Renault is only the second manufacturer to take a back-to-back COTY award and the first in almost 30 years – Fiat won both the 1995 and 1996 competitions with its Punto and Bravo models.

Commenting on the award, CEO of Renault Fabrice Cambolive said that everyone in the Renault Group was immensely proud to have taken the prestigious Car of the Year award for the second year running; “Renault 5 E-Tech electric is a real game changer in Europe – it makes electric vehicles desirable as well as inspiring an emotional response.”
Cambolive added; “At the same time, it was designed to deliver added value for our customers – if there’s one car with the potential to transform the electric market, it’s this one.”

Philippe Krief, CEO of Alpine, called the win all the more symbolic as the A290 is the first step in the brand’s ‘electric Dream Garage’ programme of sporty but stylish EVs.”I would like to thank all the teams rewarded today for their passion and professionalism. But also the entire Alpine community of fans and customers, who are today writing a new page in the history of the French brand,” Krief added.

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Andrew Charman

Andrew Charman has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years, writing about vehicles, technology and the industry. He is a Guild of Motoring Writers committee member and has won several awards including for his business coverage.

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