Autobest 2016: Fiat Tipo rules Europe

The coveted accolade was awarded during a spectacular ceremony yesterday in Milan. According to the jury, Fiat Tipo is an outstanding product able to satisfy the average customer of Europe in terms of design, engines, perceived quality, comfort, versatility and excellent price-to-quality ratio.

The Autobest 2016 award ceremony was staged in the Teatro Vetra in Milan yesterday evening. The winner was the new Tipo, the most recent addition to the Fiat line-up which maximises value for money - this being a crucial concept in the Fiat functional family - and is packed with what customers genuinely appreciate, with a simple range and a transparent commercial offer. The remarkable potentials of the new model are confirmed by the over 15,000 orders received in little more than two months since its launch.

The new Fiat Tipo was elected by the Autobest international jury of 26 motoring journalists representing 26 European countries and covering 91% of the continent's total population. The jurors of the independent organisation established in 2001 awarded 1,492 points to the car for thirteen different parameters, including design, comfort, running cost-effectiveness, driveability, price, service network, spare parts distribution, versatility and buy-back value. In brief, a car must be the best buy for most European customers in order to win the coveted accolade.

The new Fiat Tipo came first ahead of the other four finalists - the new Opel Astra, the new Hyundai Tucson, the Honda HR-V and the Mazda CX-3 - making it the third Fiat model to win the award, which is a record among the brands assessed by Autobest: the first was Panda (in 2003) and the second was Linea (in 2008).

The Autobest 2016 award ceremony is the first after the jury was expanded to include eleven new members representing Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Turin, 12 February 2016