VW ID.Buzz is “Car of the Year 2023” –

RUDSKOGEN (DinSide): The award “Car of the Year in Norway” was organized this year for the 15th year in a row by DinSide, Dagbladet and Elbil24.

This year, there was no match for the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, which ran away with victory ahead of the Nio ET7, Nissan Ariya and Renault Mégane E-Tech.

The recent champion VW ID.Buzz has undoubtedly drawn inspiration from the hippie era, and there is little doubt that it also stood out in terms of appearance among this year’s finalists.

In its decision, the jury makes the following comment:

“VW ID.Buzz has an X-factor that makes it stand out in the crowd, and brings out the smile of more than just the potential customers. When it also delivers very well in the test areas, it is a worthy winner of Car of the Year 2023 by a good margin.”

Superior victory

Initially, 19 candidates were nominated for the Car of the Year competition, which this year’s jury cut down to eight finalists.

The eight best were gathered at Rudskogen Motorsenter in Rakkestad, 24 November. In the nerve-wracking final, we found the following cars:

BMW i7, Mercedes-Benz EQE, Nio ET7, Nissan Ariya, Renault Mégane E-Tech, Toyota bZ4X/Subaru Solterra and VW ID.Buzz.

With the jury members behind the wheel, this year’s finalists were driven through a series of exercises. The cars were tested in braking and cornering tests, as well as evasive maneuvers and track driving.

After each jury member had tested all the cars, they got together to discuss the big choice and named the VW ID.Buzz as Car of the Year.

– The cars have been tested on several occasions, but the final test was carried out with dynamic tests, such as slalom, evasive manoeuvres, acceleration and brake tests. All the cars are also evaluated with regard to space and practicality, as well as safety and price are naturally taken into consideration. Based on this, the VW ID.Buzz has been named car of the year, explains jury leader Fred Magne Skillebæk.

Which car surprised you the most?

– ID.Buzz is probably the most surprising. It looks big and heavy, but thanks to the center of gravity and the location of the battery, it behaves like any passenger car.

The jury also points out that the winner has driving characteristics that no other car in the category can match.

– The practicality is unbeatable. It has safety equipment like a well-equipped one for a passenger car, and it has the huge x-factor that no doubt gives it some bonus points.

Which car was the pre-favourite?

– ID.Buzz was probably one of the favourites. It also won Car of the Year in Denmark and is among the finalists for Car of the Year in Europe. Here, VW has created a practical car, while at the same time they have ignited a spark in many people.

Even on the podium

In second place was the Nio ET7, which comes with many of the solutions from the ES8. The jury believes that the ET7 has a good perceived quality, and you will be able to switch to a larger or smaller battery solution when this becomes available.

Nissan Ariya and Renault Mégane E-Tech shared third place in this year’s award. The former is referred to as a mid-range SUV that works excellently as the family’s number one car. Ariya also has a typical European design that will appeal to many, both externally and internally.

Mégane E-Tech is described as a car that you would like to go out and drive more. The car is based on the same platform as the Nissan Ariya, but has received its own solutions that make the car even more interesting, including an operating system from Google. Unlike the Ariya, the Mégane will only be delivered with two-wheel drive.

The BMW i7 received two votes from the jury and receives the following verdict:

“The 7 Series from BMW has always been their flagship. It now comes in a fully electric version, and still aims to be the best of what the brand has to offer. The car bears the mark of having a focus on both driver and passengers.”

Read about the rest of the finalists here.

– Fantastic news

Håkon Wirak, director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, is pleased with the award:

– This was absolutely fantastic news for our entire organisation, which has worked long and hard to prepare the introduction of ID. Buzz in the Norwegian market. We are of course very proud of this model, and it is incredibly fun that both the public and the jury agree with us by choosing the passenger car edition ID. Buzz Pro for this year’s car, he writes to DinSide.

He continues:

– For us, these awards mean a lot, and not least they give us important motivation in the further work to electrify the passenger car fleet and the commercial vehicle segment.