The 2014 European Car of the Year Awards are now firmly underway as the jury decides the seven finalists for the competition.
The Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia have all been shortlisted to take away 2014's accolade, as have the all-electric BMW i3 and Tesla Model S.
Volkswagen, that took the award last year with its new Golf, has not made this year's selection. Entrants that didn't make the final seven include the BMW 4 Series, the Jaguar F-Type, the Mercedes-Benz CLA and the Range Rover Sport, which may surprise some given the level of praise each of these cars has been given since their release.
Now that the seven nominees have been chosen, they will each be put through a selection of rigorous tests near Paris in February before the winner is announced at the Geneva Motor Show on 3rd March 2014.
Anything else?
For the final vote, each member of the jury has 25 points to distribute between all the potential winners, with a maximum of 10 points allowed for a single car. Once the points have been allocated, the jury has to give a detailed analysis explaining their reasoning behind their decisions.
We will be in Geneva in March when the winner is announced. Watch this space...