BMW i3 Places 2nd in European Car of the Year

BMW i3 Places 2nd in European Car of the YearThe European Car of the Year Award is that prestigious award where winning is all that matters for the participants. This time the Peugeot 308 stood first followed by the BMW i3, where the latter was behind with a considerable margin. The fact that is rather noteworthy is that the Tesla Model S; considered to be the unsurpassed electric car in the market, was defeated by the i3.


Many automotive journalists even claim that Tesla Model S is by far the best car in all respects, electric or otherwise. Therefore, in this context, even though BMW had hoped big about grabbing the first position, it’s pretty evident that defeating the Tesla Model S came as a consolation prize which they celebrated behind closed doors. Auto-car was one of the firsts to announce the winner publicly.

From the look of it, it seems that Auto-car might have been surprised i3 stood second and not first in the competition. They blamed the loss on the models, i3 and Tesla Model S, dividing the ‘electric vote’. They considered the i3 as an unconventional car. When compared to the Peugeot, the i3 is a revolution with futuristic materials, designs, and processes of production; and according to them even the former is a well-formulated car of its own kind.
The i3 is a remarkable product of futuristic design, materials and production processes.

Here are the voting results

1. Peugeot 308 won with a whopping 307 votes
2. BMW i3 bagged 223 votes; the margin clearly being considerable
3. Tesla Model S managed 216 votes
Others:
4. Citroen C4 Picasso won 182 votes
5. Mazda 3 won 180 votes
6. Skoda Octavia won 172 votes
7. Mercedes Benz S-Class won 170 votes

Even though the i3 could not take back home the trophy from the European Car of the Year Award, the voting numbers show that people are quite impressed with their expertise. The Tesla Model S is an excellent car without a doubt, and to finish ahead of it is no mean task. So, win the highest position or not, this fact made i3 shine brighter than usual among the crowd of cars.

Consider it a moral victory, perhaps, and a worthwhile one at that. Now all we have to do is wait and watch whether the public agrees with the results of the competition. Till now the demand for i3 has been quite impressive but what question lies in front are that whether the demand subsides after the pent-up excitement in the market goes down? BMW has been hoping and praying hard for the answer to this billion-dollar question.

There was a lot of action based around the show floor of the i3, surrounded by journalists all over the world throughout the day, following its stunt at the 2014 European Car of the Year Award. It was a bit surprising to see the buzz around the car still not subsiding since it has been around in the auto show circuit for quite some time now. Although the car is launching for the public with rebuilt transmissions, journalists have had access to it at several other shows in the recent past.