The Renault 5 is the 2025 Car of the Year

The 2025 Car of the Year is the Renault 5/Alpine A290. It was picked from a shortlist of seven, and they scored like this.

Renault/Alpine: 353 points
Kia EV3: 291 points
Citroën C3/ëC3: 215 points
Dacia Duster: 172 points
Hyundai Inster: 168 points
Cupra Terramar: 165 points
Alfa Romeo Junior: 136 points

The winner was announced at today's Brussels motor show, and collected by Renault boss Fabrice Cambolive. He said: "We all feel immensely proud to have taken the prestigious 'Car of the Year' award. Renault 5 makes electric vehicles desirable as well as inspiring an emotional response. If there’s one car with the potential to transform the electric market, it’s this one.”

This is the original Car of the Year award and remains the one taken most seriously across Europe. The jury is made of 60 front-line car journalists from 23 countries.

Every all-new new car launched in Europe the past year is eligible. According to the award statutes, the jurors are looking for "general design, comfort, safety, economy, handling and general roadworthiness, performance, functionality, general environmental requirements, driver satisfaction and price. Technical innovation and value for money are major factors".

I'm one of those jurors. The procedure is we drive all cars, then near the end of the year take a first-round vote to pick the shortlist of seven.

For the final, we each get 25 points, to allocate across the seven cars, with a maximum of 10 points to our best pick. All our voting is transparent, available on www.caroftheyear.org

We also have to supply our reasoning behind the points, and here's what I said.

Renault5/Alpine A290: eight points

An object that delights nostalgists, while also being hugely attractive to those who don't remember. Yet that’s only a small part of why it's my Car of the Year. More important is the substance is as good as the surface: its suspension is beautifully judged in refinement and agility, its interface is ergonomic and comprehensive, and it's great value. The R5 is fun, the A290 more so.

Dacia Duster: five points

Wow, a proper family vehicle for the price of a supermini. Cast a critical eye and you can find where many of the savings were made – hard cabin plastics, gritty screen system, a lack of sophistication in the suspension damping. Yet it hardly matters. The Duster looks good and is roomy, comfortable, very decent to drive and has an honest cheeriness to its character.

Citroën C3/ë-C3: four points

Driving the C3/ë-C3 and interacting with its displays and controls is a beautifully simple matter. Or, in a contrary view, almost barren in its electronic equipment versus the Hyundai. But I enjoy the Citroën's zen character in an over-complicated age. The e-C3 is good value and the petrol C3 absolutely cheap. They ride and steer well and are comfortable, and feel decently robust, and have agreeable cabin decor.

Kia EV3: four points

The EV3's design, both in bodywork and interior, is distinctive and removes it from most clichés of either 'off-road' or 'sporty'. To its credit it doesn't try to feel either of those things either. Its suspension is very pliant, the steering relaxed. It has been set up to suit the way most people (if perhaps not road-testers) actually drive. The interior is comfortable and well laid-out too.

Hyundai Inster: three points

Sliding rear seats are a good feature for some owners for city use, where people aren't carrying much luggage but are giving friends and family a lift. The Inster rides and drives in a mature relaxed fashion for a narrow car, and has a huge array of assistance and configuration in its interface. But it seats only four, and the versatile longer-range version is comparatively expensive in the UK.

Alfa Romeo Junior: one point

The mild-hybrid and low-power Elettrica versions don't bring anything new to the small crossover market. The interior feels disappointingly cheap, the exterior design doesn't compensate, and the drive isn't different enough from rivals. The Veloce's performance, excellent handling and traction do stand out… but if you enjoy it fully you will soon have a flat battery.

Cupra Terramar: no points

The nose design and interior are stylish for a family crossover, if a little overdone for some tastes. It has a strong choice of well-developed powertrains, and competent suspension. Practical touches such as the sliding rear seat offset the PHEV version's small boot volume. But the Terramar doesn't really advance this very crowded genre, and a Car of the Year needs to be more than 'good'.