Europe’s Car of the Year is the Peugeot 3008. It was a fairly slender win from the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Third was the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

The other shortlisted cars were the Volvo S/V90, Citroen C3, Toyota C-HR and Nissan Micra.

The Peugeot was a steady scorer from nearly most judges, picking up praise for the fine cabin and powertrain choice.

The Alfa was loved by nearly all judges as a drivers’ car, but many pointed out there should be more to a car than that. And as Alfa shows no sign of offering alternative power or advanced driver assist, many felt it was too much of a minority-interest machine.

The Mercedes got lots of praise for its design, cabin quality and comfort, but in many European countries it’s expensive, and that held it back.

My own points differed: 7 for the Merc, 5 for the Alfa, 3 each for the Peugeot (its dynamics aren’t great) and the Volvo (love it but the Merc, especially on small wheels is better) and the Micra and C-HR. Just one point from me for the Citroen. I am very fond of the thing, but today all manufacturers really should make city auto-brake as standard and the Citroen lacks it. Statistics show it does prevent accidents.