Only three hours after the 54th International Motor Show and the 13th Motopassion International Motorcycle, Scooter, Quads and Equipment Show had officially been opened to visitors, the “Car of the Year” for 2019 was declared, selected by the Association of Journalists of Serbia.
In addition, a nine-member jury from the Association of Journalists of Serbia made the decision after two test days held at the airport of the Pilot Academy in Vrsac, after which the decision was made – Peugeot 508.
Altogether nine models competed for this prestigious award, and those were: Audi A6, Volkswagen Touareg, BMW X5, Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus, Mercedes A Class, Peugeot 508 and Škoda Karoq. In order to compete, the car had to meet the two key conditions: the car had to be introduced as a novelty in 2018 and by the time of evaluation results it will have sold at least 10 pieces of that car model in Serbia.
Finally, Peugeot 508 won most votes, then Toyota Corolla 100 and in the end Ford Focus.
Over the course of the ceremony, some other special awards were also presented, such as an award for the best-selling hybrid car (Toyota Corolla), the best-selling electric brand of cars (Volkswagen for Up and Golf) and several awards for PR and journalism.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Ms. Zorana Mihajlovic honored the awardees with her presence and personally presented the first three awards to the laureates. On that occasion, she announced that subsidies for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles were being considered, and that by 1 June, 2019 another 10 electric vehicle charging stations would be installed on Corridor 10, apart from already existing five. She further emphasized that the Serbian Government would continue to develop a network of electric vehicle charging stations on highways and thus enrich the infrastructure network necessary for electric and hybrid cars on our market. She further continued by explaining that only 200 electric vehicles have been registered in Serbia, which is negligible compared to about 2.5 million registered vehicles in total. The Minister then visited the exhibition stands of Toyota, Jaguar and Roads of Serbia.
