European Car of the Year the award for 1987. 19 years after the 504 gave Peugeot its first European Car of the Year, the French carmaker finally enjoyed its second triumph in the competition when its mid-range 405 saloon won the 1988 award by a wide margin. A year later, Fiat became the first manufacturer to win the award five times when its ground-breaking new Tipo achieved victory. Citroen's new XM flagship model won the award for 1990, with its French rival Renault scoring success a year later with the new Clio supermini, which signalled the end for the iconic R5. With the award now
European Car of the Year versions of which had been largely overlooked by the contest's judges. Fiat made in nine victories in the contest when it won the 2008 award with the 500 model, a retro-styled take on its iconic small car which had first been launched 50 years earlier. The next award went to a more traditional and mainstream offering, when Vauxhall/Opel won the award for only the third time with its Insignia. Volkswagen's Polo supermini had been around in several forms since its launch in the mid 1970s, but the all-new version launched in 2009 was the first generation of Polo to win