- Mercedes CLA won 2026 European Car of the Year.
- Skoda, Kia, Citroen, and Fiat models all placed behind it.
- This is Mercedes’ first win since the 450 SE/SEL in 1974.
The newly redesigned Mercedes-Benz CLA has been named The Car of the Year 2026 in Europe, edging out a competitive lineup of new releases in a field where every finalist featured some form of electrification.
Mercedes-Benz’s third-generation CLA, which debuted last year as a fully electric model and is now also offered in hybrid form, scored 320 points from a jury of 59 automotive journalists representing 23 countries across the continent.
Who Topped the Charts?
It led the pack ahead of the Skoda Elroq, which earned 220 points, followed by the Kia EV4 with 208, the Citroen C5 Aircross at 207, the Fiat Grande Panda with 200, the Dacia Bigster at 170, and the Renault 4, which rounded out the field with 150 points.
Read: Mercedes Wants $47K For Its New CLA EV And That’s Just The Starting Price
Not only did the CLA claim the highest point total overall, but it also received first-place rankings from 22 of the judges. That figure put it well ahead of the Citroen C5 Aircross, which topped 15 ballots.
Despite the rapid growth of electric contenders in recent years, this marks just the second time in the 62-year history of the award that a Mercedes-Benz has taken the top prize. The first was in 1974, when the honor went to the Mercedes-Benz 450 SE/SEL.
Powering the CLA 250+ with EQ Technology and CLA 350 4Matic with EQ Technology models are an 85 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and an 800-volt electrical architecture. The base 250+ has a quoted European range of 492 miles (792 km), while the 350 has a claimed range of 479 miles (771 km). These are both impressive numbers and show just how much Mercedes has progressed with its latest generation of EVs.
Awards Season
This might not be the only award the new CLA collects. Just last week, it was named as one of the ten finalists for the 2026 World Car of the Year award. It will go up against models such as the BMW iX3, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Kia EV4, Nissan Leaf, Toyota RAV4, and Audi Q5/SQ5.
