Each year, Parkers, the UK’s most trusted site for reviews of new cars and used cars, reveals their picks for the best vehicles in a number of different categories. They celebrate the Car of the Year, various of the best options for families, the best option for used buyers, and more. While the cars listed below are Parkers’s picks for the Awards, the opinion with them is my own, and does not necessarily reflect that of their journalists. You can read Parkers’s piece here.
Car of the Year/Best Medium Family Car – Renault Scenic E-Tech Electric
Photo: Renault Global Media Website
A strong choice. Renault’s range has evolved superbly over the last few years, and the full circle moment for the Scenic, going from a function-over-form family MPV (we had a 2005 Grand Scenic, way back when), to an attractive, well-equipped SUV is the pinnacle of this. I, for one, am yet to hear a bad word said about it by those who have driven it, and look forward to getting behind the wheel of it myself.
RRP £37,495 – £45,495Â
Best First Car – Renault Clio
Photo: Renault Global Media Website
Another gold medal for Renault, and well-deserved, at that; the Clio is a great car. Not sure it’s the car that should take the win in this category, though. It’s stylish, comes with loads of useful kit as standard, and safe (took home five stars from the Euro NCAP in 2019), but it could be argued that the Clio isn’t a feasible first-car-choice for most. According to GoCompare, the average UK driver spends £3,000 on their first car – this falls somewhat shy of Renault’s £18K starting price. Moreover, no matter how safe the car is, it would appear, insurance brokers in this country are unphased: a new driver could be quoted anywhere between £2,500 and £5,000 for a 2024 Clio, and who knows what a learner might face.Â
RRP £18,395-£24,895Â
Best Small Family Car – Škoda Kamiq
Photo:Â Å koda Media Room
The Czech auto-manufacturer’s smallest SUV was unveiled in 2019 and underwent a facelift in 2024, modernising it just enough to fit in with the rest of the range’s styling, but not so much that anybody actually noticed. It’s only available as a petrol nowadays, and balances a relatively-techy 8.25-inch screen with a handful of physical buttons! A great car for small/young families, or, in fact, for anybody who fancies Volkswagen T-Cross level tech and comfort for slightly less money and with slightly more boot-space.
RRP £24,190 – £32,230Â
Best Large Family Car – Volkswagen ID.7
Photo: Volkswagen Newsroom
It surprised me that the ID.7, in its Liftback guise rather than estate, took the win in this category, particularly after seeing that the 7-seat, very spacious Å koda Kodiaq finished as a runner-up. However, the ID.7 boasts an impressive 532L of cargo space, just shy of the Scenic’s 545L. It’s also worth mentioning that VW’s electric saloon has the longest range of any EV on the market: 436miles on a single charge. Massage seats, area-view cameras, and a whole host of safety features come as standard on the base Pro Match spec.Â
RRP £51,550 – £63,080
Best Company Car – BMW i4
Photo: BMW Group Pressclub Global
If I was presented with the keys to an i4 on my first day in a new job, I’d feel as though I’d won the ‘company car lottery’… unless, of course, the company was Bentley. The i4, while not affordable in the traditional sense, seems to be something of a bargain compared to the Tesla Model S, BMW i5 or i7, Porsche Taycan or Audi S e-tron GT, although comes off as the more expensive model in comparison to the Hyundai IONIQ 6 and Tesla Model 3, with starting prices of £47,040 and £39,990 respectively. Like most BMWs, plenty of kit comes as standard, and it’s more than easy on the eye; BMW’s design team warrants a small nod of appreciation here for not falling foul to the plague spreading through the automotive industry: they haven’t tried to make the i4 look freakishly futuristic or spaceship-like. It slots itself well into the BMW design family of ICEs and EVs, and doesn’t look like an extra-terrestrial might hop out of the driver’s seat.
RRP £51,270 – £70,900Â
Best Fun Car – Hyundai IONIQ 5 N
Photo: Hyundai Newsroom
Two years ago, if somebody uttered the phrase ‘high-performance EV’, one’s mind would be filled with images of Porsche Taycans, or Rimacs, or, at the very least a performance-model Tesla. In 2024, though, Hyundai have redefined a performance EV, giving it five seats, 480L of cargo space and up to 780mm of rear leg-room. Two electric motors put down 641bhp, with the IONIQ 5N reaching 100km/h in just 3.4seconds. Range shouldn’t be too much of a bother, either: the 5N is claimed to be able to travel 278miles on a single charge. If you do decide to spring for this tantalising combination of the racy i20N and the ingeniously-crafted IONIQ 5, don’t choose a boring colour – an exciting car demands an exuberant paint job. Personally, I’m quite partial to that Performance Blue Gloss.
RRP £65,000-£66,250
Best Seven-Seater Car – KIA EV9
Photo: Kia Global Media Center
This is the second time in one article that I’ve written this, but I was surprised to not see the new Å koda Kodiaq win this category, or perhaps the Volkswagen Multivan. Nonetheless, the EV9 is one of the most beautiful cars Kia have ever produced. ‘Abundance’ doesn’t do justice to the copious amounts of space this SUV has to offer: 333L in the boot when all seven seats are occupied (but well over 800L when the back seats are folded, and close to 1,500L when all are down), 1,086mm of leg room on the middle row, and between 756 and 783 on the third row, and a decent bit of space in the ‘frunk’ (it’s still not enormous). The EV9 looks like the combination between a Land Rover Discovery and a Kia Soul EV which has spent a lot of time in the gym – it’s large, unapologetically boxy and sharply-angled. One could be forgiven for thinking that the interior, too, was that of a Land Rover. Two 12.3-inch screens make up the infotainment system and digital driver’s display, and the seats are clad in a sustainable leather-equivalent, made from recycled plastic bottles and wool (available in light grey and black and black or dark grey and navy), or five different fabric options. Kia’s engineers reckon the EV9 can travel 349miles on a single charge – far superior to the Audi Q8 e-tron’s 281miles. The Ocean Blue Glossy is my favourite as far as a colour is concerned, but the EV9 also looks excellent in Aurora Black Pearl or Snow White Pearl. If you’ve got the cash and need the space, the EV9 is a great electric SUV/MPV.Â
RRP £65,025-£77,025
Best Value Car – Vauxhall Corsa YES Edition
Photo: Stellantis Media
Yet another EV walks away with a medal here! Perhaps the YES Edition’s biggest positive is that it takes £5,500 off the Corsa Electric’s starting price, starting at just £18,505. This price consistency between electric and petrol versions of the same car is revolutionary in the motoring world, since EVs usually come with a significant price increase. The Corsa comes with a 10-inch infotainment system and 7-inch digital driver instrument cluster. It looks pretty sleek with the black wheels and roof that come with the YES edition. 309L of boot space is good, but less than market rivals Hyundai’s i20 (352L) , Volkswagen’s Polo (351L), or the impressive 391L that comes on a Renault Clio.
RRP from £26,895
Best Luxury Car – BMW i7 and 7 Series
Photo: BMW Group Pressclub Global
Two cars winning the same category almost feels wrong, but since it’s technically one car with two different engines, I’ll let it slide. It’s interesting that the i7 and 7 Series were the Best Luxury Car of 2024, too – Parkers’s journalists do not believe that another luxury car that’s come along in the past year is capable of toppling them. I’d argue that there are several cars that have come out this year, which, while not specifically designed to be luxury cars, are plenty luxury to have a look in on this category. The Kia EV9, as mentioned above, makes for an excellent luxury people-mover (while not requiring a category D1 license to drive, unlike several luxury van/bus-conversions). Moreover, the new Hyundai SANTA FE is perfect for comfortably moving people. Audi’s A8, or Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class are also fine choices here, even if the latter is slightly pricier. Anyway, the 7 Series. BMW’s luxo-barge comes kitted out with executive lounge seating, finished in spectacular quilted-leather, integrated screens in the rear doors (5.5-inch) which allow the passenger to operate the 31-inch BMW Theatre Screen infotainment system, as well as air-conditioning and seat settings. Bavaria’s best can also come with a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System, with 36 different speakers and tweeters and a subwoofer and shaker, creating a 4D audio experience with 1,965 watts. It’s a car with a big road-presence, and certainly delivers a remarkable passenger experience.Â
RRP £105,510 – £144,185 (7 Series) ‎£101,765.00 to £184,320.00 (i7)
Best Used Car – BMW 3 Series (F30)
Photo: Newspress
The sixth generation of BMW’s 3 Series was produced between 2011 and 2019, and, during that time, the 3 Series became one of the most recognisable cars on the road. Nowadays, they heavily populate the used market, and are worth considering if you’re looking for a high-quality vehicle to rely on, without breaking the bank: a 2018 car with just over 15,000miles on the clock can be picked up for under £20,000. It’s a pretty varied range, too: petrol, diesel and hybrid options are available, and around 20 different engine configurations, with manual and hybrid transmissions. A pretty tidy interior of (often) leather seats, decent-sized infotainment system (for the period) and plenty of driver-assistance systems. I found a pretty clean example on AutoTrader, which is definitely worth a look if an F30 3 Series is something you might be interested in.
Used Price Range £2,000 – £28,000+Â
Which of the Parkers Car Awards winners is your favourite?
Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in News
4
