Alfa Romeo 4C wins European Beauty award

Beating out BMW's new 4 Series coupe, the CLA from Mercedes-Benz, and the latest Mazda3, the 4C won the prize following a worldwide internet survey conducted in collaboration with event partners Le Point, Auto Addict, Automobiles Classiques, AD and JC Decaux.

4C won an impressive 40.70 per cent of the votes, beating BMW 4-Series (25.55 per cent), Mercedes CLA (22.15 per cent) and Mazda 3 (11.60 per cent).

Alfa Romeo's victory this year is the Italian brand's fourth; the Alfa 164 won the inaugural title in 1988, the Brera won it in 2005, while the MiTo was judged Most Beautiful in 2008.

Centro Stile Alfa Romeo designed 4C, taking inspiration in particular from the back catalogue's iconic 1967 33 Stradale.

The International Automobile Festival, which started in 1986 in Chamonix, France, has become a key event on the automotive calendar. The Most Beautiful Car of the Year award began in 1988.

This latest accolade follows numerous other awards for 4C; it was recently named FHM magazine UK's Car of the Year 2013, the 'Coup de cœur 2013' from Automobile Magazine in France and 'Auto Trophy 2013' from German magazine Auto Zeitung.

The 4C will launch in Australia later this year.