Toyota Yaris named 2021 European Car of the Year

The Toyota Yaris has been voted 2021 European Car of the Year by a 59-person jury.

Beating the all-new pure-electric Fiat 500 in second place, the small Yaris was awarded 266 points with 14 jurors voting it their personal Car of the Year.

The little Fiat, meanwhile, ran its Japanese competition close with 240 points, with nine judges placing the battery-powered 500 in the top spot.

In third place was the latest Formentor SUV (239 points) from SEAT sub-brand Cupra, while Volkswagen's ID.3 (224 points) could only manage fourth place.

Other contenders for this year's European crown included the Skoda Octavia (199 points), the Land Rover Defender (164 points) and the all-new Citroen C4 (143 points.)

Other cars to miss out included the Audi A3, BMW 4 Series and Mercedes S-Class, with the Yaris beating more than 20 eligible cars to the top spot.

Marking the second time the Yaris nameplate has won the ECOTY award, after the first-gen hatch won the gong back in 2000, the jury praised the 2021 model's hybrid tech, low emissions and accessible price point.

First established back in 1964, the European Car of the Year award was first won by the Rover 2000.

This year, the jury consisted of 59 journalists from 22 different countries.