► Mercedes CLA announced as 2026 European Car of the Year
► Small premium exec gains 100-point lead
► First Mercedes win since 1974
Mercedes has brought home its first European Car of the Year award in more than 50 years, with its new CLA saloon bagging the 2026 award. The announcement was made at the 2026 Brussels Motor Show.
The new CLA scored a total of 320 points, awarded via 59 jurors from 23 countries – and was a whole 100 points ahead of second place, which was taken by the Skoda Elroq. Kia’s EV4 took third place with 208 points.
The rest of the line-up consisted of the Citroën C5 Aircross in fourth with 207 points, the Fiat Grande Panda with 200 points, Dacia’s Bigster with 170 points and the Renault 4 with 150 points.
The ECoty statement notes that the CLA gained the most first place rankings among the jurors, with the Citroën C5 Aircross being the favourite of 15 media.
Mercedes hasn’t won a European Car of the Year award since 1974 with the 450 SE/SEL model, and the brand follows on from the Renault 5 and Alpine A290 jointly winning the award in 2025.
Jake has been an automotive journalist since 2015, joining CAR as Staff Writer in 2017. With a decade of car news and reviews writing under his belt, he became CAR's Deputy News Editor in 2020 and then News Editor in 2025. Jake's day-to-day role includes co-ordinating CAR's news content across its print, digital and social media channels. When he's not out interviewing an executive, driving a new car for review or on a photoshoot for a CAR feature, he's usually found geeking out on the latest video game, buying yet another pair of wildly-coloured trainers or figuring out where he can put another car-shaped Lego set in his already-full house.
By Jake Groves
CAR's news editor; gamer, trainer freak and serial Lego-ist
