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UK Car of the Year 2018 winners announced

Independent testers have put forward the best cars in a variety of categories, including best supermini, best estate and best hot hatch

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Thirteen cars are in with a shot of winning the title of UK Car of the Year 2018 after independent judges picked the best-in-class winners.

A total of 12 manufacturers are represented after the first round of voting by a panel of 27 motoring journalists. BMW was the only brand to pick up two awards – the 5 Series saloon was crowned best executive car, while the Touring variant won best estate.

The Volkswagen Group was also well represented, with three brands receiving best-in-class gongs. The Seat Ibiza was named best supermini, the Volkswagen Golf claimed best small hatch, and the Skoda Kodiaq took the title of best large crossover.

The Volvo XC60 continued an award-winning start to the year, claiming the title of best medium crossover on the same day Euro NCAP testers named it the safest new car to go on sale last year.

(Volvo)
(Volvo)

Volvo Car UK managing director Jon Wakefield said: “Winning an award decided by some of the automotive world’s toughest judges is something to be extremely proud of. This award reflects the quality and desirability of our products, which helped us achieve our second-highest UK sales for a quarter of a century in 2017.”

The Hyundai i30N took surprised with top honours in the best hot hatch class. It is the first performance car the South Korean car manufacturers has built, so beating established rivals such as the Honda Civic Type R is some achievement.

(Hyundai)
(Hyundai)

Tony Whitehorn, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor UK, said: “With the development team we had behind the i30N, it was engineered to become a serious contender in what is a well-established and highly competitive segment.

“Its all-round package of style, equipment, price and state-of-the art high performance technologies make it a fast and fun alternative to the more established names. This award is a testament to how well the i30N has been received so far.”

(Skoda)
(Skoda)

The other winners were the Peugeot 3008, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Citroen C3 Aircross, Lexus LC, Mazda MX-5 RF and Kia Stinger.

Judges will now vote on an overall winner, which will be announced on February 23.

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