And the winner is...

The Honda Accord Euro beat out a field of 18 finalists to claim the 2008 Car Of The Year award. Exhaustive testing from a panel of judges saw the Accord Euro impress with its all-round abilities.

"The Honda Accord Euro is the right car for the times, not too big, not too thirsty and not too expensive," explains Editor Ged Bulmer. "It blends great driver satisfaction with outstanding dynamics and supreme passenger comfort. It is an exceptionally well-rounded car with painstaking care to build quality and detail."

The  COTY testing criteria judges each nominated car for functionality, technology, efficiency, environmental impact, safety and value. Testing was conducted at Ford's You Yangs proving grounds and a road loop in the Macedon Ranges, in North-East Victoria.

The Accord Euro was up against some stiff competition including Honda's other Accord and Jazz, the Ford Falcon FG, Jaguar XF, BMW 1 Series Coupe and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Eventually the team narrowed it down to a final quartet: Volkswagen Tiguan, Audi A4, Mazda 6 and the Accord Euro.

"This is fantastic result for a fantastic car that epitomises every element of Honda's DNA. It's fun to drive nature combined with quality, safety, value and sporty styling is what the second-generation Accord Euro is about," says Yasuhide Mizuno, Honda Australia Managing Director and CEO.

"I want to say thank you to all the judges for making the Accord Euro number one. We were a finalist with the first-generation Euro in 2003, so to be recognised for our efforts with this prestigious award with the second-generation Euro makes everyone at Honda very proud. It is a wonderful way to start the year," Mizuno said.

It is Honda's fifth COTY win and the first since the Odyssey people mover won in 1995.

Previous Car Of The Year winners
2000 Subaru Impreza
2001 Holden Barina 
2002 Ford BA Falcon
2003 Mazda RX-8
2004 Ford Territory
2005 Mazda MX-5
2006 Holden VE Commodore
2007 Mercedes Benz C-Class