What Car? Car of the Year 2016 – winners
The Volkswagen Group cleaned up at the prestigious What Car? Car of the Year Awards 2016, despite being engulfed by the diesel emissions scandal.
Top prize went to the Audi A4 3.0 TDI 218 Sport, while the Group (which consists of VW, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley and Bugatti) was victorious in nine of the 19 categories. Audi has now won the coveted title three times – more than any other manufacturer.
The only prize for a British car maker went to the Land Rover Discovery Sport in the Large SUV category.
What Car? readers also voted for the upcoming Alfa Romeo Giulia as the car they were most looking forward to in 2016.
“Regardless of the scandal, the VW Group still builds cars that rank among the very best on the road and, tested against our criteria covering all of the rational reasons that consumers choose one car over another, the results are clear to see,” said What Car?’s Jim Holder.
“All VW Group brands face a huge journey in rebuilding public confidence in their products. We acknowledge that and accept that some car buyers will simply look to our runner-up recommendations as a result. Car buyers will always have varying priorities, and we will always be there to help make their journey as easy and fruitful as possible.”
What Car? Car of the Year 2016 – winners
- What Car? Car of the Year 2016 – Audi A4 3.0 TDI 218 Sport
- City Car (sponsored by Warranty Direct) – Hyundai i10 1.2 87 SE
- Small Car – Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI 90 SE
- Family Car – Skoda Octavia 1.2 TSI 110 SE
- Electric Car – Volkswagen Passat Estate GTE Coupé Audi TT 2.0 TFSI 230
- Sport Estate Car – Skoda Superb Estate 2.0 TDI 150 SE
- Business MPV – Volkswagen Touran 1.6 TDI 110 Bluemotion Tech SE
- Hot Hatch – Ford Fiesta ST-2 Convertible Mazda MX-5 2.0 SE-L Nav
- Small SUV – Nissan Qashqai 1.5 dCi 110 N-tec
- Large SUV (sponsored by CAP HPI) – Land Rover Discovery Sport 2.0 TD4 180 SE Tech auto
- Compact Executive Car (sponsored by Allianz) – Audi A4 3.0 TDI 218 Sport
- Large Executive Car (sponsored by Allianz) – BMW 5 Series 520d SE auto
- Sports Car – Porsche Boxster 2.7
- Luxury Car (sponsored by NEC) – Mercedes-Benz S-Class S350d SE Line L
- Technology Award (sponsored by Stuff) – Toyota Mirai and Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell
- Safety Award (sponsored by Thatcham) – Volvo XC90
- Reader Award (sponsored by CAP HPI) – Alfa Romeo Giulia