Car of the Year award short-list announced

The short-list for this year's Car of the Year award has been announced.

The 58 member jury - composed of leading motoring journalists from across the continent - selected the shortlist of final list of seven new vehicles from a potential range of 33.

All the models in contention were launched within the last 12 months.

The finalists are:

• Fiat 500

• Ford Mondeo

• Kia Cee'd

• Mazda 2

• Mercedes-Benz C-class

• Nissan Qashqai

• Peugeot 308

The short list was decided by motoring professionals Paul Horrell (Top Gear magazine), Steve Cropley (Autocar), Andrew English (The Daily Telegraph), Ray Hutton (The Sunday Times), David Williams (Evening Standard) and John Simister (The Independent).

The organising committee consists of representatives from seven leading European publications; Autocar from the UK, Auto from Italy, L'Automobile from France, Autopista from Spain, Auto Visie from Holland, Stern from Germany and Vi Bilagare from Sweden.

For the final vote - taking place on November 2nd - members of the jury will have to appoint 25 votes among at least five of the vehicles up for nomination, while also providing a written justification of their opinion.

The winner of the Car of the Year award will be announced on November 19th.