The Peugeot 308 has been voted the Car of the Year 2014 after fending off stiff competition from the likes of the Tesla Model S and BMW i3.

Eligibility rules required contenders to have been on sale in at least five European markets by the end of 2013, with forecast sales of at least 5000 units per year.

A total of of 30 candidates were eligible for the Car of the Year 2014, and the first stage saw the entries whittled down to just seven cars: the BMW i3, Citroën C4 Picasso, Mazda 3, Mercedes-Benz S-class, Peugeot 308, Skoda Octavia and Tesla Model S.

The 308 collected 307 points in total, ahead of the BMW i3 with 223 points and the Tesla Model S with 216 points. Citroën's C4 Picasso received 182 points, while the Mazda 3 collected 180 points. A total of 172 points were cast in favour of the Skoda Octavia, while the Mercedes-Benz S-class collected just 170 points.

Candidates that did not make it through to the final round included the BMW 4-series, Ford Kuga, Hyundai i10, BMW X5, Kia Carens and the Jaguar F-type.

Previous Car of the Year award winners include the Vauxhall Ampera, Ford Focus and Toyota Yaris.

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Read more about the Car of the Year award here