VOLVO XC40 IS EUROPEAN CAR OF THE YEAR

The Volvo XC40 has been announced as the European Car of the Year for 2018.

The Swedish manuf act ur er’ scompactsuvbeats ix other cars from brands including Citroen, Kia and Seat by some distance to be selected.

The judging panel praised the Volvo’s quality, looks, ruggedness, safety, agility and performance.

The Volvo won the voting with 325 points and 24 individual top votes after a rather lonely race in front of the Seat Ibiza, which received 242 points. The BMW 5 Series (226 points) took the third positionamong the seven finalists.

Announcing the winner, the organisers commented: “The XC40 follows the tracks of its valued bigger brothers, but with a younger focus.

“Not only it is noticeably smaller thanxc 60, its fresher style outside and inside seems to aim a different customer too. The XC40 combines a generous ground clearance with a rather agile handling and the lively performance of its powerful launch versions, especially the 247-hp 2.0 T5.” “Winning this award with our new XC40 is perfect timng,” i said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. “Volvo now has three globally available SUVS in its range for the first time. The XC40 will be a strong contributor to further growth, taking us into a new and fast-growing small SUV segment.”

The jury for the Car of the Year 2018 consists of 60 23 european countries. They whittled down the original long list of 37 candidates to the final seven, which also included the Kia Stinger, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Audi A8 and Citroen C3 Aircross.