And the Marcus goes to...

And the Marcus goes to...

No fewer than 36 new car models that came onto the Austrian market in 2021 were tested and evaluated for the Marcus by ÖAMTC experts. The models were evaluated according to the criteria of climate friendliness, safety and cost-effectiveness, from which the overall winners were calculated.

This year for the first time in four different vehicle categories instead of the previous five. Since the range of small cars and compact cars was smaller, the two categories were combined. A second Marcus in each of these vehicle categories was awarded by the ÖAMTC members. They were able to choose their favorite from all the new releases in 2021. In addition, a future-oriented technology was recognized as a guide by a jury of experts.

In the small car & compact class category: no award given, as there was a special case this year: The Dacia Spring received top marks in the ratings for economy and climate friendliness, but the worst rating for its safety equipment. The Dacia Spring also performed poorly in the EuroNCAP when it came to safety and only received one out of five possible stars. This does not justify awarding a prize for the ÖAMTC.

In the middle class, the Polestar 2 took victory, in the very popular SUV & crossovers it was the Audi Q4 e-tron. In the prestigious luxury class category, the BMW iX was the most convincing and secured the Marcus.

Every year, a particularly forward-looking concept from the automotive sector is honored as a “signpost” at Marcus. This year, the jury of experts unanimously chose the Mercedes-Benz EQS. "The EQS achieves a masterpiece in a variety of criteria of modern technologies. Due to numerous efficiency measures as well as a very high recuperation performance - that is the energy recovery when reducing speed - it achieves a range of up to 748 km in the WLTP cycle with the 108 kWh battery. The drag coefficient of 0.2 is absolutely great - the air resistance coefficient is a measure of the aerodynamics of a vehicle. And with level 3 it is the first vehicle approved for semi-autonomous driving in Europe,” says Oliver Schmerold, ÖAMTC director, summarizing the jury’s reasons.

Around 52,000 ÖAMTC members voted online for their highlights for 2021 and the results were as follows:

Small car & compact class:Skoda Fabia

Middle class:VW Multivan

SUV & Crossover:Škoda Enyaq iV

Luxury class:Audi e-tron GT quattro