Jeep Avenger named European Car of the Year

Famous off-road brand’s first electric car scoops prestigious title

The Jeep Avenger has been named the 2023 European Car of the Year by a panel of international judges.

The Avenger is Jeep’s first all-electric model and the brand’s first car to even make it as a finalist in the awards, which are voted for by 57 motoring journalists from across 22 European countries.

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Although Jeep is an American brand, the Avenger was designed, engineered and manufactured in Europe and is the brand’s smallest ever model. The all-new Avenger shares an electric powertrain with various other Stellantis products, albeit with a more rugged focus than sibling products from DS, Peugeot and Vauxhall. It features a 154bhp electric motor and 54kWh battery that should offer up to 248 miles of range.

With the Avenger receiving 328 points, it was the clear winner out of the seven finalists. In second place behind the Jeep was the Volkswagen ID.Buzz – a new electric MPV that sits on the firm’s bespoke EV platform, and acts as a modern interpretation of the brand’s classic Microbus. The ID.Buzz scored 241 points.

In third position was Nissan’s new electric Ariya SUV, which was handed 211 points, followed by the Kia Niro – which is offered with a choice of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains – that ended with 200 points.

Following these were the Renault Austral (163 points), Peugeot 408 (149 points) and the Subaru Solterra/Toyota bZ4X (133 points).

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The voting works by each juror having 25 points to award, and they can’t give more than 10 points to any individual model, and have to split it across at least five cars.

Previous winners include the Kia EV6 in 202 and Toyota Yaris in 2021.

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