I read about it in the paper. Pretty nice. But please keep in mind that not all cars that won that trophy were huge successes... But I'm sure the Prius is a winner!

I know that, but it's so good for our ego.

Official page:

http://www.caroftheyear.org/

:multi: :multi: :multi: :multi:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sylko\";p=\"50516)</div>

Typo - should be 267

I found this review interesting

One reviewer mentioned that the prior gen was heavily subsidized, but the current gen isn't. This reviewer thinks it is still (if either gen was, still not agreed on) subsidized.

And another:

Interesting because , at least from the 1 picture they have of the C4, they are very similar looking, the major difference being the more straight line from nose to the top of the windscreen on the Prius.

Also interesting, the European reviewers seem, as a group, more interested in the environment, not more power as is common with U.S. car reviewers. Will the U.S. consumer (and car reviewers) ever adopt this concept??

I guess the subsidy is the tax relief available in some areas, such as the USA and UK. I get no tax relief compared to any other car. :cry:

Some reviewers still think MRT doesnt charge enough to pay for production of the Prius. This was the case with the MK1, but MRT is on record as saying the MK2 makes a small profit.

The news in english...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sylko\";p=\"50516)</div>

Now it is in English (well, sort of): The hybrid Toyota Prius elected Car of the year 2005.

:lol:

Nothing on the homepage? Strange... :roll:

WOW... not even really a contest... Prius in a cakewalk!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sylko\";p=\"50819)</div>

Perhaps there is a geographic restriction on the translation service. Here is a copy and paste version of the article:

Voted by plebiscite ecology

The hybrid Toyota Prius elected Car of the year 2005

LEMATIN
November 15, 2004

After a vote which turned to the plebiscite, the Toyota Prius was elected car of the year 2005 by a trained jury of 58 specialized journalists. Prius indeed focused on its name 406 points, whereas its dauphine, the Citroen C4, joined together only 267 of them. And the BMW Serie 1, whose dynamic qualities however refer, collected 83 points only.

More than product itself - still that Prius is a very correct car -, the members of the jury, and more still the trente-sept which placed it at the head of their ballot paper, wanted above all to highlight its side citizen. It is not surprising in a time when the environmental protection holds, rightly, a significant place in the debates of company. Thanks to its hybrid motorization - a petrol engine makes the pair with an electric motor -, Prius consumes less than one traditional gasoline car, in particular downtown.

Four hundred specimens in Switzerland
"Prius of the first generation, with which returns historically the honor to have initiated the turn of the hybrids, would undoubtedly have deserved this title a few years ago already. But it is never too late for making well ", indicates a member of the jury. "Prius II carried all the more easily as it much is succeeded and much more pleasant to lead than its of the same devancière name. But its diffusion remains in spite of very marginal, even if the chains of production pain to satisfy the request." In Switzerland, this year, Toyota delivered to date a little less than 400 Prius II and nearly 500 orders are in wallet.

On the level of what one could call the traditional cars, it is the Citroen C4, with which the Parisian manufacturer joins again with the taste of the innovations, which held the attention of the jury. In front of competitors of an indisputable quality, which it is of Ford Focus, Opel Astra, Renault Modus, Peugeot 407 or the BMW Serie 1.


The classification:


Toyota Prius, 406 points
Citroen C4, 167 points
X-ray Ford, 228 points
Opel Astra, 180 points
Renault Modus, 151 points
Peugeot 407, 135 points
BMW Series 1, 83 points

<img src=\'http://www.lematin.ch/nwmatinhome/nwmatinheadactu/actu_suisse/l_ecologie_plebiscitee.body.Image.gif\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\'>

FIRST the hybrid concept (motorization essence/electricity) of Prius enables him to collect all the votes during one time when ecology constitutes a major concern. Photo DR.

What's interesting is the reviewer comments (it took some digging out from behind some javascript, so I thought worth pasting as a link here for general use).

The comment that struck me was a complaint of "noisy engine" - was this guy driving the same car as us?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tms13\";p=\"50909)</div>

It all depends on your perspective and what you are used to. The gasoline engine is my Prius is definitely buzzy, during moderate and hard acceleration, compared to the E class Mercedes that it replaced.