And it’s the first Jaguar ever to do so, too.
Sixty journalists from twenty-three countries were gathered in a hall and ready to crown the 2019 European Car of the Year recently, and the race was close. The finalists included the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the Peugeot 508, the Ford Focus, the Kia Ceed, the Alpine A110, and the Jaguar I-Pace.
And for the first time in history, Jaguar was declared the winner of the coveted award after tied votes forced them to go into first-preference votes. Even then it was won by a margin of just two.
The I-Pace’s win is significant for several reasons: Jaguar will point out immediately that they have never won the Euro COTY award before, and observers will note that the Euro COTY judges generally favour family hatchbacks (as evident by the top-6 being made of up 3 such cars, and one Sportback type affair). The fact that the race was effectively between a low-volume sports car and a large, all-electric luxury SUV is remarkable, and speaks volumes about the objective capabilities of both vehicles.
“For our first electric vehicle to also be the first Jaguar to win European Car of the Year gives us a huge sense of pride. I-Pace was designed & engineered in the UK from a clean sheet of paper. It is the most technologically-advanced battery electric vehicle, a true game-changer. Winning European Car of the Year is an honour, and a real recognition of what our world-class team has delivered.” – Dr. Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar-Land Rover
With 75% of the 8,000 delivered I-Paces to date coming from Europe, it’s clear that Jaguar’s struck a winning combination of style, ability, and practicality with the all-new I-Pace.
If you’d told us ten years ago that motoring journalists would be fighting to have a go in an all-electric Jaguar SUV, we’d have laughed at you. But the I-Pace is real, and so is its award, the 55th such recognition that Jaguar has received for its zero-emissions family hauler.
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