In this regular column, CarGurus’ motoring expert and Car of the Year Juror, Vicky Parrott, has her say on the burning issues in the automotive world. This week, it's Car of the Year...
Here’s a question, then: what should be the Car of the Year? Well, just days ago, perhaps the most influential new car awards of all – European Car of the Year – announced that the Renault 5 had scooped the title.
The award works by taking votes from 60 jurors from every European country, all of whom are experienced journalists that drive the vast majority of new cars in their everyday job. As a member of the European Car of the Year jury myself, I can reveal the inner workings of this event, which is not much more complicated than this: we all get together in the autumn, drive some cars, have a polite but heated argument, and come up with a shortlist of seven models that we can then vote on for the overall award. It’s great fun.
Now, I don't so much want to dwell on Renault's (well deserved) victory here, but instead highlight why I believe this was a vintage awards in terms of the seven models that rose to the shortlist. These were the Alfa Romeo Junior, Citroen C3/e-C3, Cupra Terramar, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Inster, Kia EV3 and Renault 5/Alpine A290 (the Alpine being the hot hatch version of the Renault).
Looking at that list, the real joy for me is that there are so many great value cars. The fully electric Citroen, Renault and Hyundai all offer 200 miles of range or more, in a properly brilliant small-but-useful package, for under £25,000. The Kia EV3 is also fantastic value, offering a WLTP range of 372 miles from under £36,000.
Away from the EV side of things, both the Duster and petrol Citroen C3 are cool-looking, spacious, cushy delights from under £18,000.
The Alfa and the Cupra are the outliers - for me, at least. They’re great, but they don’t feel like game-changers and I always hope to give the overall Car of the Year award to something that really moves things on for the consumer, whether that’s in terms of value, tech, comfort, performance, efficiency or otherwise.
So, which would you have picked? Should the Citroen have won, for being great value as both EV and petrol – the best of both worlds, and a really cute, well designed car? Or perhaps you rate the Hyundai’s quirky, innovative interior and narrow body, which make it a fantastically zippy city car. Or do you admire how the Kia makes a mockery of the range, tech and value that many rival family hatches offer?
And the Duster? I mean, what’s not to like? It’s a spacious family SUV that looks and feels smart, is a pleasant drive, and undercuts its rivals.
Or perhaps you agree with us judges, and think that the Renault should indeed take the win for being strikingly brilliant to look at, great fun to drive and good value, too. It certainly got my vote.
Car of the Year decisions aside, it’s brilliant news that we’ve got so many great cars arriving now and in the next few months. It’s going to be an interesting year, with prevailing economic and political conditions (and the increasingly pressurised ZEV mandate, in particular) sure to make 2025 just as fraught for the automotive industry as 2024 was. But for consumers, the options – petrol, electric or otherwise – are looking better than ever thanks to these quirky, cool, fun yet surprisingly practical cars.
So, well done to the seven cars that were shortlisted for COTY 2025 and, more importantly, here’s to a year full of affordable cars with proper ‘want one’ factor. And if you’re more about the used cars than buying new? I don’t blame you. And you’re already in the right place…
