What a day for the PSA Group! Having opened March 6 with the announcement of the acquisition of the Opel and Vauxhall brands from GM for 2.2 billion euros, the French carmaker has driven home with the prestigious 2017 European Car of the Year award. 

The Peugeot 3008 has been awarded the 2017 Car of the Year award in Geneva, beating six other cars including the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Mercedes-Benz E-Class to the top spot.

With this, Peugeot has bagged the European Car of the Year (COTY) title for the second time in three years. The new 3008 is the first SUV winner since the creation of the trophy in 1964. It is also the fifth Peugeot to win the Car of the Year, following the 308 in 2014, the 307 in 2002, the 405 in 1988 and the 504 in 1969.

Other cars in the running this year included the Volvo S90 and its estate sibling, the V90, the Citroen C3, Toyota’s C-HR crossover the striking new Nissan Micra.

Among the judges comprising 48 European journalists was Autocar UK’s Matt Prior. Last year’s winner was the Vauxhall Astra and the victor the year before was the Volkswagen Passat.

Also read: PSA becomes Europe's No. 2 carmaker after acquiring Opel/Vauxhall from GM