UK Car of the Year class winners revealed
The UK Car of the Year judges have revealed their shortlist for this year’s award, with 13 cars named as class winners.
The final UK COTY winner will be announced on 23 February.
Voted for by a panel of 27 leading motoring journalists – including Fleet World editor Alex Grant – and presided over by International Fleet World editor John Challen, the awards now include a category for Best Supermini.
This year saw the BMW 5 Series scoop the top honour in the Best Executive category, while the Touring version was named Best Estate. Peugeot and Lexus picked up their first category wins at the UK Car of the Year Awards as the 3008 was named Best Family car and the LC won the Best Coupe class. Mazda – overall winner in 2016 with the MX-5 – triumphed with the folding hard-top MX-5 RF to win Best Cabriolet.
Within the Volkswagen Group, the SEAT Ibiza triumphed in the Best Supermini category, the Volkswagen Golf was voted Best Small Hatch and the Kodiaq won the Best Large Crossover class.
Meanwhile the Best Small Crossover was Citroën’s C3 Aircross, while Volvo’s XC60 was named Best Medium Crossover. In total, there were 23 crossovers in the three categories – proof of the change in consumers’ vehicle tastes and demands.
Rolls-Royce made it a hat-trick of wins in the Best Luxury category as the Phantom triumphed while Kia saw its first UK COTY win to take the Best Performance crown. Fellow Korean manufacturer Hyundai prevailed in the new Best Hot Hatch category with its i30 N.
The winning model in each sector now goes forward to determine the overall prize of UK Car of the Year 2018, which will be announced on 23 February.
Full list of UK Car of the Year Awards 2018 category winners:
- Best Supermini – SEAT Ibiza
- Best Small Hatch – Volkswagen Golf
- Best Family – Peugeot 3008
- Best Executive – BMW 5 Series
- Best Luxury – Rolls-Royce Phantom
- Best Estate – BMW 5 Series
- Best Small Crossover – Citroën C3 Aircross
- Best Medium Crossover – Volvo XC60
- Best Large Crossover – Skoda Kodiaq
- Best Coupe – Lexus LC
- Best Cabriolet – Mazda MX-5 RF
- Best Hot Hatch – Hyundai i30 N
- Best Performance – Kia Stinger
Natalie Middleton
Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for nearly 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day. Natalie edits all the Fleet World websites and newsletters, and loves to hear about any latest industry news - or gossip.
