The darned corona virus has a restrictive impact on life everywhere.

So it's a little comforting when there are one or the other constant.

The Car of the Year award has been given since 1964, known in Germany as "Car of the Year".

There will also be one in 2022.

Holger Appel

Editor in business, responsible for "Technology and Engine".

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The most coveted prize in the automotive industry successfully defies all of the travel restrictions imposed, trade fairs that have been canceled, the headwinds brought about, and gloomy moods. As always, he is headed for the most interesting car of the year, awarded by 61 specialist journalists from all over Europe who are committed to the joy of progress and individual mobility, one could also say: simply the joy of good cars. And this is exactly where there is a real surprise this year.

There is not a single German brand in the final. Even from Japan, which is the defending champion with the Toyota Yaris, no manufacturer made it into the seven finalists. Even old driving men do not know whether there has ever been anything like this in history. The debacle for the proud auto nations Germany and Japan has by no means emerged, as there were some promising candidates on the 39 vehicles long list. Audi’s Q4 e-tron and e-tron GT were on it. BMW had four contenders, including the lively 2 Series Coupé. The fine C-Class from Mercedes-Benz competed, Opel sent the fresh Mocha, Volkswagen its electric spearhead ID 4 and the young T7 Multivan. Honda HR-V, Nissan Qashqai and Toyota Highlander were also strong contenders.All of them failed.

One can only speculate about the motives, the choice for the shortlist is secret.

Only the free choice for Car of the Year is made public, and each juror then writes down his or her evaluation.

The jurors are experienced and independent, the price cannot be influenced from within the industry, and there are no sponsors from the industry.

The organization, borne by the participating media, bears the costs itself. The focus is on the consumer, for him the quality judgment should be.

So the choice is now from among seven finalists, all of whom can feel like winners.

Six of them are designed as purely electric cars, which shows a clear preference.

In alphabetical order, Car of the Year 2022 has been nominated: Cupra Born, Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV 6, Peugeot 308, Renault Mégane E-Tech and Škoda Enyaq.

In recent years, the award ceremony has always taken place as part of a gala with around 400 guests at the Geneva Motor Show. But that fails again. So a new format is needed when the end of February is: The Car of the Year 2022 is the ... The Technology and Motor editorial team traditionally accompanies the election, the author of these lines is a member of the jury. As in previous years, we will again let our readers take part in the vote. Shortly before the winner is announced, we will have a vote here as to which of the candidates has won the hearts of the readers and, in their opinion, belongs on the podium. Because of the transparency and the professional jury, the title is particularly worth striving for. There is only one winner, no sub-categories. The rating can be viewed here.

From the large number of new releases, a list of thirty-nine vehicles was first drawn up that were shortlisted. The seven finalists were chosen from among them. The criteria are strict. Each jury member must have personally driven each car that it wants to judge. This ensures that the impressions are authentic, but the chances of exotic brands shrink because not every manufacturer is willing or able to take all journalists on a test drive. In recent times in particular, manufacturers have had to make special efforts to bring the test vehicle and the jury together. Some manufacturers show considerable commitment, which underlines the importance they attach to price.

Some judges tend to give expensive vehicles low points because they only reach a few customers. This explains, among other things, why Mercedes-Benz and BMW, for example, have not made it to pole position for years despite their outstanding vehicles. There are members who think that's wrong, as many innovations get from top to bottom of the vehicles. The statutes say that innovation should play a decisive role in voting. The price-performance ratio is also given. Design plays a major role as the number one selling point.

Our survey of the last award show shows how much the topic affects people.

4600 votes were counted within one voting day.

VW ID 3 won the readers' favor ahead of the Škoda Octavia and Land Rover Defender.

The winner Toyota Yaris, a surprise, came in last.

Let's see how that looks for the car of the year 2022.

We'll know more on February 28th.