{"id":165247,"date":"2025-10-31T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:00:00","slug":"these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Car of the Year 2026<\/h2>\n

The Car of the Year is Europe’s most prestigious car competition and has been awarded since 1964. Each year, an international jury of some 60 automotive journalists from 23 countries chooses which new car impresses most on the basis of innovation, design, performance, value for money and ease of use. These seven models have a chance to win the coveted title this year: the Citro\u00ebn C5 Aircross, Dacia Bigster, Fiat Grande Panda, Kia EV4, Mercedes-Benz CLA, Renault 4 and the Skoda Elroq. <\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

First time for Dacia and Skoda?<\/h2>\n

For both Dacia and Skoda, winning would be a first – neither brand has ever managed to take the title. The Dacia Duster was shortlisted last year, but finished fourth. And Skoda? That one last came close in 2022 with the Enyaq. Perhaps the new Elroq will change that. <\/p>\n

German solidity and French flair<\/h2>\n

This year’s lineup is remarkably diverse, but also remarkably retro. Renault continues its revival of classics with the all-electric Renault 4, and Fiat does the same with the Grande Panda. The Mercedes-Benz CLA<\/a> is the first Mercedes since the 2019 A-Class to return to the shortlist. Indeed, it is the brand’s first real chance to win since 1974, when the 450 SE ran away with the title. Citro\u00ebn is making another bid for success with the C5 Aircross, hoping to revive the glory days of the GS, CX and XM from the 1970s and 1980s. On January 9, we will know who will walk away with the honor, as that is when the Car of the Year 2026 will be unveiled at the Brussels Motor Show. <\/p>\n

See also: Skoda Elroq Roadtrip: 2,000 kilometers to the Swiss Alps! – Good travel car or NOT? <\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Car of the Year 2026 The Car of the Year is Europe's most prestigious car competition and has been awarded…","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":159200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThese are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026 - All cars news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026 - All cars news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Car of the Year 2026 The Car of the Year is Europe's most prestigious car competition and has been awarded since 1964. Each year, an international jury of some 60 automotive journalists from 23 countries chooses which new car impresses most on the basis of innovation, design, performance, value for money and ease of use. These seven models make [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"All cars news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-31T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-31T16:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":289,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"car news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026 - All cars news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-31T16:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg\",\"width\":1543,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"All cars news\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"All cars news\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/CMYK-AllCarNews_LANDSCAPE_300px-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/CMYK-AllCarNews_LANDSCAPE_300px-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"All cars news\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/all-car-news.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026 - All cars news","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026 - All cars news","og_description":"Car of the Year 2026 The Car of the Year is Europe's most prestigious car competition and has been awarded since 1964. Each year, an international jury of some 60 automotive journalists from 23 countries chooses which new car impresses most on the basis of innovation, design, performance, value for money and ease of use. These seven models make [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/","og_site_name":"All cars news","article_published_time":"2025-10-31T16:00:00+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026","datePublished":"2025-10-31T16:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/"},"wordCount":289,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg","articleSection":["car news"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/","name":"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026 - All cars news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-31T16:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/car-of-the-year-2026.jpg","width":1543,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/these-are-them-the-finalists-for-car-of-the-year-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"These are them: the finalists for Car of the Year 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/","name":"All cars news","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#organization","name":"All cars news","url":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/CMYK-AllCarNews_LANDSCAPE_300px-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/CMYK-AllCarNews_LANDSCAPE_300px-1.png","width":300,"height":100,"caption":"All cars news"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-car-news.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}