WHAT CAR AWARDS - Four outright wins and seven best buys for Audi, that'll be hard to beat.

Audi takes home a total of four category award wins in the What Car? Awards, the most of any car brand in contention

• Audi A4 named Executive Car of the Year
• Luxury SUV of the Year is the Audi Q7
• A3 Sportback singled out as the Best Family Car
• Audi TT takes Coupé of the Year for the third year in succession
• Seven Best Buy commendations across the model range

Few UK automotive industry endorsements carry as much weight as a What Car? Award, and at a ceremony in London earlier this evening Audi proudly accepted a total of four from the UK’s biggest car-buying brand for category wins by the A3 Sportback, A4 Saloon, TT and Q7.  

Right at the top of the What Car? New Year’s Honours list is the Audi A4. Having already claimed last year’s overall title of 2016 Car of the Year and Executive Car of the Year, the premium pacesetter has once again held onto the Best Executive Car crown. 

It was joined by the Audi TT, which retains its Coupé of the Year title for the third consecutive year in its current form, and by the Audi Q7, which has beaten the competition to be named Best Luxury SUV. Last but by no means least, the A3 Sportback merited the top position in the Best Family Car category for 2017.

Cited by the leading consumer publication as the ‘smoothest, quietest and best-finished car in its class’, the new A4 has considerably upped the ante with its exemplary levels of refinement, comfort and technology that rival the full-size class.

“Once again it is the blend of performance, impressive efficiency and a generous standard specification offered by the A4 in 3.0 TDI 218PS Sport that makes it a winner,” explained What Car? Editor Steve Huntingford, adding: “The A4’s exquisitely built interior offers the quality of a luxury car’s, and there’s a host of tech to enjoy, including Audi’s feature-laden MMI infotainment system, as well as space for four adults – five at a push – and a generous boot.”

“The A4 manages these feats only because Audi set out not to just compete, but to build the most complete executive car on the planet, and it’s certainly done so.”

More praise was heaped on the A4, and in particular the remarkably smooth V6 TDI, with a Best Buy accolade in the more than £30,000 price bracket. According to the What Car? road test team, “The performance of this bigger engine whisks you along with the minimum of effort, taking the strain out of overtaking or building speed to join motorways. What’s more, it does so while being incongruously smooth by diesel standards, which complements the A4’s sumptuous ride and excellent ability to filter out road and wind noise at speed.”

It was also another successful night for the Audi TT, which secured yet another trophy for Coupé of the Year. This third successive category victory continues a winning streak that spans all three generations - it takes the total number of awards handed down by What Car? to the iconic coupé to an unprecedented nine.

Singling out the 1.8 TFSI Sport with 180PS as both the overall category winner and the ‘less than £30,000’ Best Buy victor, the editorial team once again recommended the TT as a ‘no-brainer’ for 2017. 

Successful start to the year for the largest Audi SUV

The third overall category win for Audi went to the Q7. The leading consumer magazine chose the 3.0 TDI 272 PS as its pick of the range, having been suitably impressed by its ‘powerful and silky-smooth’ engine, its ‘fast and slick’ eight-speed tiptronic transmission and its ample space for four adults and children.

“Despite costing much less than an entry-level Range Rover, the Q7 is unquestionably a better all-rounder,” explained Steve Huntingford. “It has a very plush interior, gets loads of standard kit and is incredibly refined; wind and road noise are negligible and the optional air suspension gives a supremely cushioned ride. Ultimately, luxury SUVs don’t get any more spacious, comfy, luxurious or sophisticated.”

New Audi A3 back on winning form

The consistently popular A3 Sportback brings the total Audi awards tally to four thanks to a Best Family Car category win. Following a comprehensive update across the range, the Audi A3 is now right back at the cutting edge of Audi innovation, and includes the very latest hallmarks of Vorsprung durch Technik, from the stunning virtual cockpit to an array of assistance systems such as the predictive efficiency assistant and the game-changing traffic jam assist, introducing the first steps toward piloted driving. Behind the technological updates the fundamental qualities of the A3 continue to shine through, as the What Car? team confirms by writing: “Even executive cars costing thousands more are shamed by its classy dashboard, rock-solid build quality and wonderful attention to detail.”

The A3 Sportback also took a 'Best Buy' accolade in the £25,000-£35,000 class in 1.4 TFSI 150PS Sport form and a further three Audi Best Buy awards were received by the A3 Saloon, the A3 Cabriolet and the new A5 Coupé.

Commenting on these remarkable achievements, Director of Audi UK Cian O’Brien said: “This is a momentous start to 2017 for our brand. To have no less than four models in particularly demanding categories championed as the very best consumer choices in the hard fought new car market is hugely encouraging. These awards play an important part in underpinning the messaging behind our models and helping to make them the choice of an ever growing number of UK customers -  they are highly prized not only by our team in the UK but also by our colleagues in Germany, and are very gratefully received.”