Honda Prelude received by judges of the European Car of the Year accolade for 1988, finished third in a contest where the Peugeot 405 was the runaway winner and the Citroen AX came second. This was one of the best performances by a Japanese built or branded car until the Nissan Micra won the award five years later. In 1987, "Road & Track" published a test summary that shows the 1988 Honda Prelude 2.0Si 4WS outperforming every car of that year on the slalom, with a speed of , even besting exotics such as Porsche and Ferrari. For reference, the 1988 Chevrolet
1986 in motoring a new Peugeot-badged car, which was due to be ready for the 1988 model year. The Citroën GSA ceased production after 16 years, having been effectively replaced by the larger BX four years ago. In 1987 launch was planned of a new mini-car, the AX, based around the running gear of the Peugeot 205. This was also due to spawn a Talbot badged model until Peugeot decided to discontinue the Talbot marque on passenger cars. A CX replacement was planned for sale before the end of the 1980s. The "Type Four" platform's third car was the Fiat Croma, which went