Every year, every car released during the previous year is judged, before a final shortlist of seven cars is drawn up. Then journalists from a number of car magazines, including Autocar, come together to place their votes.

Renault has won the prize for 2025 with its new 5 EV supermini. It’s two in a row for Renault, since it won in 2024 for its Scenic E-Tech EV. The 5 won it jointly with its sister car, the Alpine A290. But do the judges always get it right?

Let’s take a look at all the previous winners – and how successful (or not) they proved to be: