The winners of the 2015 UK Car of the Year Awards have been announced, with the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car taking the overall winner’s accolade. Other winners include the new Ford Mondeo (Best Family Car) and Skoda Fabia (Best Supermini).
The UK Car of the Year Awards (UKCOTY) is an independent set of awards, established in order to advise on the best new cars available to British customers. Which cars win in each category is based on the opinions of nearly 30 UK motoring journalists.
There were thirteen categories in total for this year’s UK Car of the Year Awards, with the BMW i8 won the Best Performance Car category, as well as being named overall winner. The i8 impressed judges with its powertrain that combines a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and electric motor, to deliver a combined 357bhp. The i8’s performance figures rival modern day supercars, with a 0-62mph sprint time of just 4.4 seconds, yet it also has an official fuel economy figure of 135mpg and it emits just 49g/km in CO2.
For family car buyers, the victory for the new Ford Mondeo is of particular interest. Available in both saloon and estate body styles, the new Mondeo was launched to the UK market in January, following many years of anticipation.
Another model of interest to family car buyers is the quirky Citroen C4 Cactus, which has been named Best Small Hatchback. The Volkswagen Passat, meanwhile, won the Best Estate Car category and the Best MPV award was given to the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.
The smallest and cheapest car to win one of this year’s UK Car of the Year Awards is the latest Renault Twingo, which has been handed the Best City Car accolade. At the opposite end of the price scale, the Rolls-Royce Ghost won the Best Luxury Car honour.
Other premium cars which won this year included the Mercedes C-Class, which was named Best Executive Car. The Jaguar F-TYPE won this year’s Best Coupe accolade and Porsche took away the final two awards, with the Macan crossover named Best 4x4, while the Boxster GTS won Best Open Top Car.
