One Of These Is The World Champion Of Cars

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: April 21st, 2011

one of these is the world champion of cars

After Nissan’s Leaf drove away with the European Car Of The Year title and the Volt snagged the American Car Of The Year title, what else was there to win? The WCOTY, of course. The champion of champions, the World Car Of The Year. And the winner is …

It’s the all electric, battery-powered Nissan Leaf. It edged out the BMW 5-Series and the Audi A8. The range extended Volt wasn’t even in the running. The World Car of the Year competition was launched in 2004, with winners chosen by a panel of automotive journalists from Asia, Europe and North America.

That the American Volt didn’t stand a chance with a United Nations of a jury is understandable. But a battery-powered Leaf winning against such heavyweights like the BMW 5-series and Audi A8, that’s remarkable.

#BertelSchmitt #ElectricVehicle #Japan #Leaf #Nissan #WCOTY

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 15 comments

Savuporo on Apr 22, 2011

Why do you keep calling Volt "range extended" if its simply yet another hybrid ? Plugin hybrid, yes, but hybrid nonetheless.

Like Reply
PenguinBoy on Apr 22, 2011

It runs quite a bit further in pure EV mode before kicking into hybrid mode - hence range extended EV. Many users could do their daily commute in EV mode before kicking in the ICE.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Flashindapan Emergency mid year refresh of all Cadillac models by graphing on plastic fenders and making them larger than anything from Stellantis or Ford.
Bd2 Eh, the Dollar has held up well against most other currencies and the IRA is actually investing in critical industries, unlike the $6 Trillion in pandemic relief/stimulus which was just a cash giveaway (also rife with fraud).What Matt doesn't mention is that the price of fuel (particularly diesel) is higher relative to the price of oil due to US oil producers exporting records amount of oil and refiners exporting records amount of fuel. US refiners switched more and more production to diesel fuel, which lowers the supply of gas here (inflating prices). But shouldn't that mean low prices for diesel?Nope, as refiners are just exporting the diesel overseas, including to Mexico.
Jor65756038 As owner of an Opel Ampera/Chevrolet Volt and a 1979 Chevy Malibu, I will certainly not buy trash like the Bolt or any SUV or crossover. If GM doesn´t offer a sedan, then I will buy german, sweedish, italian, asian, Tesla or whoever offers me a sedan. Not everybody like SUV´s or crossovers or is willing to buy one no matter what.
Bd2 While Hyundai has enough models that offer a hybrid variant, problem has been inadequate supply, so this should help address that.In particular, US production of PHEVs will make them eligible for the tax credit.
Zipper69 "At least Lincoln finally learned to do a better job of not appearing to have raided the Ford parts bin"But they differentiate by being bland and unadventurous and lacking a clear brand image.