WHAT CAR AWARDS - Hyundai takes a two awards, the i10 retains best City car and the ix35, the Technology Award

• New Generation Hyundai i10 wins ‘Best City Car’ for third consecutive year
• Best buy between £10,000-11,000 for 1.2-litre SE model
• “Easier to live with and better to drive” than its competitors
• Technology Award winner (in association with Stuff) for the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell

New Generation Hyundai i10 has retained its position at the top of its class after being named What Car? ‘Best City Car’ for the third consecutive year, along with ‘Best Buy between £10,000-11,000’. Praised for its refined cabin, smooth engine, extensive kit list and practicality, i10 continues to hold off competition from the likes of VW Up and Skoda Citigo.

Jim Holder, Editorial Director, Autocar, Pistonheads, and What Car? said: “In 2014, the i10 managed the remarkable feat of knocking the superb Volkswagen Up off the top spot. Despite facing new or updated rivals, it retained its position in 2015 and has come out on top again in 2016. Like the Skoda Citigo and VW Up, the i10 is a comfortable and nippy city car that’s easy to park and cheap to run. However, it offers a more refined cabin, a smooth engine, an extensive kit list and far greater practicality. Those factors combined result in a car that’s easier to live with and better to drive.”

Hyundai’s ix35 Fuel Cell - the world’s first commercially available fuel cell vehicle - also won the Technology Award (in association with Stuff), alongside the Toyota Mirai.  Hyundai was praised for “its bravery in trying to force change”.

Holder continued: “Supporters say hydrogen fuel cell technology holds the key to the future of sustainable motoring. Critics point out that there is next to no recharging infrastructure, that developing it will be hugely costly and that the fuel cell technology itself is far too complex and expensive to hold any mass appeal. Our judges’ counter to that was that all-new technologies need early champions, and that Hyundai’s bravery in trying to force change is to be applauded.”

Tony Whitehorn, President & CEO, Hyundai Motor UK said: “Winning Best City Car for the third consecutive year is a huge accolade for the cleverly-packaged i10.  It continues to be our best-selling model despite it now being the oldest car in our product line-up.  The fact that it was only launched in 2014 shows just how far the Hyundai brand has evolved and continues to evolve – we have the one of the youngest ranges in the industry and a firm eye on the future with the world’s first commercially available hydrogen-powered vehicle available to buy right now!”

The ix35 Fuel Cell is fitted with a 100 kW (136 PS) electric motor, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 100mph. It produces no harmful emissions during driving, with only water vapour coming from the tailpipe. The official driving range on a single tank of hydrogen is almost 370 miles, providing range in line with a conventionally-powered car.

The introduction of the ix35 Fuel Cell to market forms part of Hyundai Motor Group’s vision to become a leading environmentally-friendly carmaker by 2020, with the goal of introducing 22 low-emission models by 2020, including 12 hybrids, six plug-in hybrids, two electric vehicles and two hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.