The international jury presiding over the Car of the Year award, made up of 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries, has elected the Fiat 500 Car of the Year 2008 with 385 votes, ahead of the Mazda 2 (325 votes) and the Ford Mondeo (202).

The Fiat 500 has won the European Car of the Year Award ahead of the Mazda2 and Ford Mondeo. The car is now yet available on the Irish market.

In addition to winning the Car of the Year 2008 award outright, the super-compact Fiat obtained votes from most members of the jury: 57 out of 58 included it in their short-list, and 33 made it top in their personal rankings.

This is the second time that an A-segment model has won the award. This record brings total Fiat Group Automobiles wins to twelve: the Fiat 124 (1967), Fiat 128 (1970), Fiat 127 (1972), Lancia Delta (1980), Fiat Uno (1984), Fiat Tipo (1989), Fiat Punto (1995), Fiat Bravo/Brava (1996), Alfa 156 (1998), Alfa 147 (2001), Fiat Panda (2004) and the Fiat 500 (2008).

The Fiat 500 was launched on 4 July this year. Critical acclaim was immediately confirmed by intense customer interest. More than 105,000 orders were taken in just four months in only two countries (Italy and France), while interest continues to grow in the rest of Europe, (for example: 6,300 orders have already been placed in Germany where the car went on sale just a few weeks ago). As of today, in Europe, the Fiat 500 stands second in the A-segment with a share of 14.1 per cent (behind the Fiat Panda with a 21.2% share).

The Fiat 500 is the manifesto of 'new Fiat', a model that is in all respects the physical demonstration of the company's new approach, the renewed strategies of the brand, a different way of interpreting the car. That is why the Fiat 500 has set new benchmarks in its segment. For example, this is the first time that a car barely 3.55 metres long has been awarded a 5 star crash safety rating by Euro NCAP, and this is the first time that a car in this segment has seven airbags fitted as standard (it is also the only super-compact to fit a knee-bag), with the advanced ESP available on all models (standard on the 1.4 16v 100bhp).

In addition, this is the first time that a model has been launched with the entire range of power units (1.2 69bhp, 1.3 MultiJet 75bhp with DPF and 1.4 16v 100bhp), built to respect emissions limits set by Euro 5, and all this more than two years in advance of the legislative deadline.

This is also the first time that a 'small' car like the Fiat 500 has been able to boast such a broad range, which is made possible by choosing from: four trim levels, three engines and 12 colours (among these are six vintage colours that evoke memories of the '50s and '60s, and the three-layer white, a sophisticated paint process that up to now has only been adopted on supercars).

Customers can also choose from 15 interiors including the prestigious Cordura and Frau Leather, nine types of road wheel, and 19 sticker treatments, for a total of more than 500,000 variations.

In addition, 100 original accessories have been designed for the Fiat 500, among which the most surprising are an electric aroma diffuser and colour-coded key fobs, along with the most advanced infotelematic systems: for example a multifunctional portable navigator from the Blue&MeTM platform.

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