Hyundai Santa Fe crowned Carwow’s Car of The Year 2025

• Carwow announces winners of its Car of the Year Awards 2025
• As well as the top car accolade, Hyundai claims ‘Brand of the Year’
• New-for-2025 ‘Van of the Year’ goes to Ford Transit Custom

London, 21 November 2024: Carwow has announced the winners of its annual Car of the Year Awards for 2025 across 13 different categories, showcasing the very best brand-new vehicles available in the UK including an all-new category for vans.

The Car of the Year Awards were created to recognise and celebrate excellence in automotive product development, help consumers change cars with total confidence and drive additional demand for the retailers who represent those brands. This year, Chief Content Officer, Mat Watson and his team of industry experts, reviewed hundreds of new cars and vans, with each one given a score out of 10, according to its ability to meet drivers’ most important needs.

Hyundai secured the coveted ‘Car of The Year’ accolade for its Santa Fe large SUV, and was also crowned Carwow’s ‘Brand of the Year’. Mat Watson said: “Hyundai has played a blinder with the Santa Fe. It is a fantastic all-rounder, great to drive, comfortable and obscenely practical. Nothing else has impressed me as much as the Hyundai Santa Fe this year.”

Ashley Andrew, President of Hyundai & Genesis UK, said: “Throughout 2024, we’ve seen our products and the Hyundai brand honoured with an outstanding number of accolades and these latest awards from Carwow only further cement our position as a leading automotive manufacturer. Being named Brand of the Year is of course testament to our product line up, but also recognises the efforts of Hyundai employees across the UK as well as on a global scale, and wins for IONIQ 5 N and All-New SANTA FE, along with a Highly Commended for our latest model, INSTER, prove that Hyundai is at the forefront in creating customer-centric models which continue to push boundaries.”

Dacia was another brand that made more than one appearance in the awards list, claiming the highly sought after award for ‘Most Anticipated New Car of 2025’ for its Bigster, while its Duster came out on top in the ‘Smart Spender’ category.

Luke Broad, Dacia Brand Director for the UK, said: “The All-New Bigster takes Dacia into the large SUV segment for the first time and we’re going to shake it up with our renowned combination of practical design and value for money! It’s also good to hear that it’s topped the web traffic charts at Carwow. Receiving the Smart Spender Award for the All-New Duster shows Mat Watson and the Carwow team clearly understand Dacia’s philosophy of robust design and smart thinking. It’s impressive how many awards the All-New Duster won before it went on sale in the UK and it feels like the All-New Bigster is on track to do the same.”

This year sees the introduction of a new category: ‘Van of the Year’, which was awarded to the Ford Transit Custom for its endless choice of size, shape or configuration and cleverly designed cab. Since January, dealers have been able to source vans and pick-ups via Carwow’s daily online auctions, following strong demand from its UK network of dealer partners.

Ben Carter, Chief Customer & Marketing Officer at Carwow, said: “We’re delighted to celebrate our Car of the Year award winners for 2025 to help more people change their cars with total confidence, while also driving additional demand for our brand and retailer partners.

“Through honest and impartial advice led by Mat Watson and his team of experts, we’ve helped over 10 million people change their cars with Carwow. We look at everything that really matters to car buyers, ensuring these awards are a major endorsement for the winners, from the UK’s go-to destination for car-changing”.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Mat Watson’s commentary on the 13 category winners is listed below.

Adventurer’s choice – BMW X5
“The BMW X5 is a great choice if you have an outdoorsy lifestyle, because it has space for you, your family and friends as well as all their things. The spacious boot is accessed via a split tailgate, which makes for a great place to sit and remove your wellies, or drink a coffee and soak in the views. Four-wheel drive means it’s useful if you head off the beaten track, too.”

Family values – Hyundai Santa Fe
“The Hyundai Santa Fe is the perfect family car, because it’s big and spacious but also great value for money – it’s certainly not cheap, but it has the design and build quality of apparently posher cars, with a price that undercuts them. It’s ludicrously practical, because you can seat seven or fold the third row to open up a massive boot. Oh, and there are 18 cup holders, too.”

Urban living award – Toyota Yaris Cross
“If you want something small, economical and nippy enough to dart about in heavy traffic, look no further than the Toyota Yaris Cross. The raised driving position means you have a clear view of the road ahead, and the small dimensions make navigating tight streets a stress-free experience. The icing on the cake is the hybrid engine, which is effortlessly economical.”

Outstanding EV – Kia EV9
“The Kia EV9 is, simply put, the best electric car out there. It’s comfortable to drive and its big battery offers impressive range – but even if you do need to top up on the road, you get ultra-fast charging that means you don’t have to stop for long. That’s a game changer for EV road tripping with the kids in tow. Beyond the impressive technology, the Kia EV9 is a fantastic family car thanks to its spacious interior and large boot.”

Desirability award – Bugatti Tourbillon
“If money’s no object, the Bugatti Tourbillon is the ultimate way to spend it. The design is out of this world, and beneath the gorgeously sculpted exterior is a hybrid V16 engine making 1,800hp that helps catapult the car to an eye-watering 277mph. The Tourbillon is an engineering marvel.”

Smart spender – Dacia Duster
“The Dacia Duster is all the car you really need. The super-cool chunky aesthetic and rugged-looking interior mean that despite its mega-low price, you feel like you’re in something much more expensive. The entry-level model is pretty basic, but spend a fraction more and you get all the good stuff like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Four-wheel drive versions make great off-roaders, and you can choose a hybrid engine if you’ve got one eye on your fuel bills.”

Pleasure of driving – Porsche 911 GTS
“The Porsche 911 has long been the ultimate everyday sports car, and the latest version continues that trend. Introducing a hybrid engine to a car like this should have been controversial, but naturally Porsche has done things a bit differently and the results are fantastic. Sure, it might be carrying a little extra weight, but you’d never know – it’s more powerful than before and is still a joy to drive.”

Comfortable cruiser – Skoda Superb
“The Skoda Superb has always been a comfortable way to get around, but the new version turns things up a notch, and brings a genuinely lovely interior into the mix, alongside the usual clever practical Skoda touches we’ve come to know and love. If you spend a lot of time cruising along the motorway, there are few more relaxing ways to get around.”

Brand of the year – Hyundai
“Hyundai has absolutely smashed it out of the park. Not only is it building genuinely stylish and desirable cars, they’re good value for money, packed full of technology and, in the case of the Ioniq 5 N, have a fantastic sense of humour that makes electric cars fun. No other car maker is showing such a breadth of abilities as Hyundai right now.”

2025 most anticipated car – Dacia Bigster
“In a cost of living crisis the last thing anyone really needs is yet another big, far-too-expensive SUV. It’s no surprise, then, that Dacia Bigster news has drawn more traffic to the Carwow website than anything else. It’s a spacious family car that won’t break the bank, and if the excellent Duster is anything to go by, it should absolutely live up to the hype.”

Tech trailblazer – Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
“The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is proof that electric cars can be an absolute riot to drive. Sure, the big battery, powerful motors and other upgrades make it a capable performance car, but it’s the synthesised engine noise and ‘gear shifts’ that make it so fun and feel like such a game changer. The engineering is incredibly complex, but it’s executed so well that everything works seamlessly – and most importantly puts a massive smile on your face.”

Van of the year – Ford Transit Custom
“The Ford Transit Custom puts the ‘best’ into ‘best-selling’. There’s a reason everyone you know has one of these – there’s endless choice in what size, shape or configuration you want, the cab is so cleverly designed and it’s great to drive. The Transit Custom makes driving a van for business feel like a pleasure – but it’s not afraid of a bit of hard work either.”

Car of the year – Hyundai Santa Fe
“Hyundai has played a blinder with the Hyundai Santa Fe. It really is a fantastic all-rounder, being great to drive, comfortable and obscenely practical. The interior fit and finish is up there with the best of them, yet it’s priced in line with more budget-friendly alternatives. Nothing else has impressed me as much as the Hyundai Santa Fe this year.”

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