cinch Car of the Year 2025
2025 has been a massive year for cars. New players have stormed in. Old favorites like the Ford Capri and Rena 4 have returned, and we’ve been behind the wheel of just about all of them. But now it’s crunch time, the moment we pick our favorites. These are the cars that blew us away the most this year. Welcome to the 2025 Cinch Car of the Year Awards. Let’s go. Kicking us off, we have the best hybrid car category. The hybrid is becoming more important than ever before for eco-conscious drivers. They’re not only increasingly efficient, but they deliver the best of both worlds, balancing petrol and electricity perfectly. There have been some fantastic hybrid cars launched this year, from the new Kia Sportage to Toyota’s latest IGO X. But one stands out above all the others, and that’s why our best hybrid car of the year is the Volkswagen Golf E Hybrid. This plug-in hybrid is everything that’s great about the standard Golf, but takes it up a notch with an 88 mile EVon range. Plus, the new Mark 8.5 waves goodbye to those pesky touch capacitive controls and returns to physical buttons. What a relief. And while the Golf is our go-to, if you want a bit more interior space, we’d recommend the boxy and retroooking Hyundai Santa Fe or the striking Peugeot 508 for that bit of family SUVess in your life. Speaking of SUVs, our next category is for the best large SUV, a class featuring many of the most popular cars for British drivers. But size isn’t the only thing that matters here, because we Brits also pride ourselves on finding a true bargain. And it doesn’t get much better than our best large SUV winner, the Dacer Bigster, which ticks both boxes. We drove the new Bigster in the Alps and were impressed with its off-road capabilities, level of tech, and interior space, which we tested thoroughly by sleeping in it overnight. But aside from that, its starting price of just £21,820 and massive 677 L boot is why it makes for such a great large SUV. As for our runners up, we’ve chosen the Volkswagen Ton because it’s everything that’s great about the Tiguan only bigger and the Citroen C5 Airross. Because if you want a smooth riding, practical SUV, it’s hard to beat. If you’re looking for an elevated driving position, but don’t want to feel like you’re driving a small tank, you may be in the market for a small SUV. Of all the new small SUVs launched this year, the Scoda Lrock stood out the most to us. It’s everything that’s great about SCOD, offering clever storage solutions and a comfortable ride, but without being too serious. We like to think of it as the trusty family dog. It’s dependable, predictable, and just keeps plotting along. Except we’re not entirely convinced a Labrador can walk 360 mi on one charge. Want something a little different, though? Then we’d suggest the new Volkswagen T-Rock, which we were really impressed with when we got a sneak peek at it out in Germany a few months back. And a car is equally bright yellow, the Ford Puma Gen E. The Goldilocks option of the small SUV segment is the perfect size for a small SUV. It’s very efficient with a claimed 5.4 m per kowatt hour and is familiar just like the petrol pummer it’s based on. While SUVs are massively popular, the humble hatchback is having a bit of a renaissance in 2025 as can be seen by the sheer number of new models launched. Our winner for the best hatchback category goes to the Renault Cleo Hybrid. Now the Ford Fiesta is no more. The Renault Cleo Hybrid is one of the few remaining old school hatchbacks for sale. We can’t get enough of its fantastic hybrid system, its manual gearbox, and how beautifully it drives. So, when Renault showed off the brand new Cleo at the Munich Motor Show, we knew it would take the top spot. Sadly, the new one won’t grace our roads until 2027. But it’s not that sad because the current one is still an absolute gem. In second place in our hatchback category is the surprisingly spacious Hyondai Insta. It proves small doesn’t need to be stingy, offering all the tech you could ever want while having a unique seating setup, allowing you to turn it into a bed. No, we’re not joking. In third spot is the Alpine A290, the performance version of the Renault 5, which we gave an absolute thrashing around a racetrack. 220 horsepower, upgraded suspension, and rally inspired headlights. Need we say more? If you like your fast cars, you’re going to want to pay attention to this next category for the best performance car. 2025 has been full of new sports cars, and we’re not talking about the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world, because let’s face it, they’re out of reach for most of us. Instead, we’ve chosen three cars that are genuinely enjoyable to drive, and despite being far from cheap, aren’t anywhere as expensive as a brand new Italian supercar. Our best performance car winner is the new Mercedes AMG GT63. Having technology that’s filtered down from its F1 team, the GT63 is one of the finest road cars you can buy. It’s Mercedes way of saying, “Oi, Porsche, we see your 911 GT3, but raise you this instead. It’s not cheap, but close to £200,000 from new, but it all makes sense when you fire up that 4 L V8 and tackle a corner. My god, does it stick to the tarmac. It’s like it’s on rails thanks to that clever active arrow to help it stick to the road.” But another superb option is the new BMW M5, which might just be one of the greatest sports saloons ever made. Now, with a wacky 727 horsepower and a competent plug-in hybrid system with up to 43 mi of EVon range, it’s the best of both worlds. Or if you want a bit more electric range, go for something like the Lotus Amea. With 95 horsepower and a naugh to 62 mph time of just 2.78 seconds, it blew our minds, especially on some bumpy British B-Roads, which it handled excellently. Arguably the most important category this year is that of the best electric car. With so many new brands arriving, it can be hard to know which EV to pick. But after much consideration, we’ve crowned the BYYD Cline 7 as our electric car of the year. It just does everything so well with up to 312 mi of range, a 520 L boot, and a rotating infotainment screen. It’s hard to ignore, and that screen certainly wows passengers. BYD is doing some really impressive things at the moment, so we can’t wait to see what’s next for the brand as it continues to take on more established rivals, but more on that a little later. Speaking of rivals, we’ve given second place to the new Tesla Model Y, which, as you’d expect from a Tesla, is impressive straight out of the box. Its real advantage, however, is having access to the Tesla Supercharger network. In our view, still one of the best charging networks available. Coming in hot on its heels is the brand new BMW EX-3, which we had a first look at in Germany in September. It promises up to 500 mi of range, and despite controversial looks, it shows a real step up for BMW among increasingly tough competition. Now, who doesn’t want to save their pennies? Next, we’re looking at 2025’s best budget car. That’s why our winner is quite predictably a Dacer, but more specifically the new Duster. With a starting price of less than £22,000, this is the ultimate family SUV if you’re on a budget. It’s packed full of all the latest tech and gadgets you’d want. Plus, it can handle the muddy stuff should you wish. The Dacer Duster also has a 517 L boot and a roomy cabin for up to five people. And if you want to save even more cash, you can pick up a used Dacer or any of the brands in this video for a fraction of the cost at Cinch. There’s a reason used cars are selling like hotcakes at the moment. Next is the BYD Dolphin Surf. A fully electric city car with a big range and a low price. Starting from just £18,650, this is one of the cheapest new electric cars money can buy. And it impresses with a 200 mile range while still benefiting from BYD’s impressive tech. Yes, it also gets that fun-to-play rotating infotainment screen. Third place in our budget category is the updated all-electric Micro, which has all the signs of a new hero car for Nissan. And a special mention has to be given to the JU 7, an affordable Range Rover alternative that has taken the UK by storm this year, outselling rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai. At Cinch, we love to find the strangest and most interesting features in ordinary cars. But of course, you’d know about this if you’re following our socials. We’ve picked three of our favorite features from the last 12 months. See what you think. It automatically adjusts your seat to your height. So, if we flick it all the way down to 4’9, you can also choose cm should you wish. And start positioning. The whole seat is sliding forward. In the new EV6, it has this little thing down here. Believe it or not, that’s actually a fingerprint scanner. So, all you have to do scan that and the car will turn on without your key. And in the Hyundai Insta, simply fold down the rear seat and you can genuinely sleep in it. Cool, right? In a year with so many new releases, one brand in particular stood out to us. The winner of our most exciting car brand is BYD, the obvious choice for 2025. It’s been going from strength to strength this year, releasing several exciting new cars to the UK market. From the Dolphin Surf to the Sea Line 7, BYD seemingly sprang out of nowhere. But what most people don’t know is that it’s been working away in the background for decades, even making the first mass-produced plug-in hybrid way back in 2008. But this is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to see where BYD goes from here. It’s definitely one to watch. Likewise, we’d recommend keeping an eye on Xpang, which having launched the G6 in the UK, is looking to make its mark on the electric SUV space. And we can’t forget about more established brands like Honda. With new cars like the Reborn Prelude and Super EV concept, it can’t be discounted as a brand with a hugely exciting future. So, there you have it. Our winning cars of 2025. Do you agree with our choices? Tell us what cars would make your list in the comments below.
2025 has been a massive year for new cars. With the rise of new car brands and the comeback of classics like the Ford Capri and Renault 4, it’s been anything but quiet.
That’s why, over the past 12 months, we’ve been out on the road test-driving many of the latest and greatest new cars to share with you.
And now we can reveal the very best car in each category for our cinch Car of the Year Awards 2025.
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Presenter: @bnwelham
Videographer: @jamil.jafri
Editor: @montymakesmovies
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0:00 Car of the Year 2025
0:23 Best Hybrid
01:18 Best Large SUV
02:10 Best Small SUV
03:04 Best Hatchback
04:09 Best Performance Car
05:34 Best Electric Car
06:39 Best Budget Car
07:56 Best Car Feature
08:40 Most Exciting Brand
09:33 Comment Your Winner!
#cinch #caroftheyear #caroftheyear2025 #bestsuv #besthatchback #bestelectriccar
