Autocar Awards 2025: The best cars on sale today

The A290 is a car developed by the same people who gave us unadulterated thrillers such as the Renaultsport Clio 182. Such a car should be as easy to drive quickly as it is engaging on a twisty road; the fact that it’s electric will then naturally not be the main focus. And that’s exactly what happened here.

“It picks up where Renault’s hot hatches left off,” wrote Matt Prior after his first drive.

BEST FUN EV: Alpine A290

We crowned it the winner of our Best Fun EV test earlier this year and  – putting its powertrain to one side – it’s one of the most involving, responsive affordable driver’s cars we have seen for a while. It might not be the first electric car to break the mould and show the world that EVs can appeal to enthusiasts, but the A290 rewrites the formula in an appealing, unique and accessible way.

It’s not the most powerful, the biggest or the most efficient car ever, but neither was the Clio 182.

BRITAIN’S BEST DRIVER’S CAR: McLaren Artura

Suffice to say, the Artura was already a good car when it very narrowly missed the podium at Britain’s Best Driver’s Car of 2022. Since then however tweaks and changes have upped the drama (in the right way) and its dynamic appeal, and it fairly waltzed to BBDC victory last year. Its versatility as a mid-engined supercar really is special.

BRITAIN’S BEST DRIVER’S CAR: McLaren Artura

You feel like you could, perfectly comfortably, do the office commute in it, run errands and take it on trips away. And, because it’s so easy to get into and so lovely just to drive ‘normally’, you would want to. That singular usability also runs parallel with a level of performance, handling precision, control feedback and all-round driver engagement that absolutely nothing else could compete with on track last autumn.

BEST DREAM CAR: Lamborghini Revuelto

This is the dynamic package that properly moves the game on, though. The Revuelto has a bigger footprint than the Aventador but is in another dimension of handling appeal, partly thanks to a new, ultra-fast-computing control unit that marshals the ESP, torque split and torque vectoring.

It all boils down to the fact that the biggest, baddest, fastest Lambo now feels cohesive and ready to entertain its driver, inviting them to take certain liberties, as Ferraris do.

BEST DREAM CAR: Lamborghini Revuelto

The Aventador held you at arm’s length, but you can get stuck into the Revuelto, which, in a 1001bhp supercar with a naturally aspirated V12 and looks that stop traffic, is quite an experience. It’s also the outright fastest car we have yet tested, toppling Bugatti’s Veyron Super Sport. A dream car? Yep, and then some.

BEST VALUE CAR: Dacia Duster

The Dacia Duster is not the cheapest car on sale today; it’s not even the cheapest Dacia. In fact, save for the recently introduced Bigster, it’s the most expensive car Dacia sells. But it is outstandingly good value, because it simply offers so much for so (relatively) little. Don’t make the mistake of labelling the Duster as a bare-bones budget car, though.

It’s a fashionable and popular SUV, for starters, and it really leans into the junior off-roader feel with boxy yet confident looks, big wheels and an expansive, flat bonnet. Hop in, and the angular dashboard and pillbox windscreen could almost fool you that you’re in a Defender.

BEST VALUE CAR: Dacia Duster

The Dacia Duster capitalises on the seemingly obvious idea of offering buyers everything they need, nothing they don’t and just enough of the things they want. At a time when most new cars are becoming eye-wateringly expensive, it’s no wonder that Dacias have become wildly popular with private buyers.

NB: Dacias are sold under the Renault name in certain markets such as Australia and New Zealand.

BEST HYBRID: VW Golf eHybrid

Now, however, the tax and WLTP certification systems are changing to make PHEVs work harder to earn their place. And, wouldn’t you know it, we’re getting better cars as a result. The Golf eHybrid shows precisely how. It is, on the face of it, just another Golf. It’s priced pretty much like one, and it looks like one – no novelty headlights or flashy detailing here.

BEST HYBRID: VW Golf eHybrid

And it drives like one, for the most part. But best of all, it has an excellent official range of 88 miles (142 km), which means that many owners able to charge at home will rarely have to fill up with fuel  - and in most places helps the car achieve a very low tax rate. Bravo.

BEST EV: Kia EV3

As we’ve come to expect from Kia’s product, the EV3 doesn’t just play a numbers game that only looks good on paper. Instead, this is an appealing, well-rounded car that stands up to comparison with a growing crop of rivals. On the road, it asks very little of its driver. The EV3 just adapts to their driving style with intuitive controls, adjustable regenerative braking and a pleasantly middle-of-the-road handling balance.

BEST EV: Kia EV3

If you go for the entry-level Air trim on smaller wheels, it rides gently too. The airy interior seats you on comfortable chairs with a raised driving position; ahead of you are just enough physical switches, as well as a slick infotainment system – an eight- and an 80-year-old would feel equally at home here. And both of them should have no problem storing all of their stuff in the big boot.

BEST SMALL CAR: Fiat Grande Panda

The Fiat Grande Panda could easily have been dull and unimaginative. Something that, because of cost-cutting and its relatively low asking price, was bereft of unique, headline-grabbing features. But it didn’t turn out that way.

The Grande Panda is what happens when a car maker pays attention to and respects not only its heritage but also out-of-the-box thinking to give its new model some genuine appeal among both loyal and first-time buyers.

BEST SMALL CAR:: Fiat Grande Panda

Few rivals are able to match the Fiat’s levels of character. Its equipment levels are equally impressive. As standard, you get nifty 16in white steel wheels, a 10.25in touchscreen, air conditioning, cruise control, rear parking sensors and a feature so clever you wonder why it wasn’t introduced decades ago: a retractable charging cable.

BEST 4X4: Land Rover Defender Octa

Land Rover’s new hero Defender, the Octa, is an intriguing performance car that we have come to know really rather well in a pretty short space of time. It was only in January of this year when the chance came to take to the coastal roads, mountain trails, valley basins and sand dunes of the Western Cape, South Africa, in this car.

As introductions go, it was every bit as ambitious as the Octa’s dynamic brief, and it demonstrated very fully what this Land Rover is all about: not physics-bending on-road performance, but rather a boosted envelope of usability every bit as long as it is broad.

BEST 4X4: Land Rover Defender Octa

Most two-and-a-half-tonne super-SUVs achieve their sub-4.0sec 0-62mph acceleration times by switching onto performance road tyres. Some increase on-road cornering grip by doubling down on their sport suspension settings, giving up ground clearance and wheel articulation along with all the true off-road capability that goes with them.

Some become so wedded to the notion of fast road or track use that any meaningful dual-purposeness simply evaporates out of the window. They become luxury super-saloons on stilts. Not this one.

BEST MANUFACTURER: MG

If, 15 years ago, when the unimpressive MG 6 was launched, you had said MG would one day win this award we don’t think you would have been taken very seriously. Even four or five years ago, when MG’s products were all stolid, uneventful, uninspiring to- look-at, low-priced value products, would you have predicted this?

The Cyberster (pictured) isn’t the core vehicle in the MG range, but it epitomises just how far this manufacturer has come. It has been nearly two decades since SAIC took over the defunct MG brand, seeking a name that was recognisable to Western consumers and managing it carefully (some customers think it is still a British brand). It has a design and engineering hub in the Midlands, but the core work, and the manufacturing, is performed in China.