What Car has announced the full run down of its cars of the year, with our choices announced too.

What Car? has revealed the full list of contenders for the coveted Car of the Year Awards as the annual celebration of the very best in automotive draws ever closer.

A What Car? Award win is amongst the most sought-after accolades in the car industry. What Car? tests each car back-to-back with key rivals to ensure that only cars able to deliver exceptional quality are shortlisted.

Covering 15 separate categories, the awards range from the best city runabouts to luxurious executive and performance cars. The overall Car of the Year will go to a newcomer that’s raised the benchmark sufficiently to beat not only the established competition across all categories, but all the other new metal from the past 12 months.

British-built models feature strongly, with 16 making the list as the UK automotive industry continues to produce exceptional cars. Hailing from Nissan’s Sunderland factory, the Nissan Qashqai (Small SUV) and Leaf (Electric Car) are both nominated.

Vauxhall’s British-built models have also made the list, as the latest Vauxhall Astra and Astra Sports Tourer compete for Family Car and Estate honours respectively.

What Car? editor Steve Huntingford said: “The automotive industry has excelled in the UK over recent years and that is evident in the list of nominees, in which many British-built cars have taken the market by storm and continue to do so. 

“As the industry goes from strength to strength, so have the What Car? Awards; it’s a real fixture of the automotive calendar and an exhilarating period for us as we begin to build up to awards night, starting with announcing the excellent 2017 contenders.

“Our panel of experts has a tough job ahead as it selects the stand-out car in each category and then the overall What Car? Car of the Year for 2017, which has to be extraordinary.”

The What Car? Awards set the highest standards for the automotive industry, and awards are only given to cars that truly excel in their class, and only the best of these will be named What Car? Car of the Year 2017. Last year’s overall winner was the Audi A4.

Elsewhere, the Reader Award will be one of the most hotly-contested prizes on the night. Voted for by What Car? readers, the award gets the public’s view on the most anticipated cars being brought to market over the next 12 months.

The What Car? Car of the Year Awards 2017 takes place on January 11 2017 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane.

For more information, please visit: HERE

*16 British-built cars
Aston Martin DB11
Bentley Bentayga
Honda Civic
Jaguar F-Pace
Land Rover Discovery Sport
McLaren 540C
McLaren 570GT
Mini Clubman
Mini 5dr
Nissan Leaf
Nissan Qashqai
Range Rover
Rolls-Royce Dawn
Rolls-Royce Ghost
Vauxhall Astra
Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer

WHAT CAR? CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2017 LONG LIST:

City
Hyundai i10
Skoda Citigo
Suzuki Celerio TMW CHOICE
Volkswagen Up

Small Car
Citroën C3 TMW CHOICE
Dacia Sandero
Ford Ka+
Mini 5dr
Nissan Micra
Renault Clio
Skoda Fabia
Suzuki Baleno

Family Car
Audi A3 Sportback
Honda Civic
Hyundai Ioniq
Nissan Pulsar
Renault Mégane TMW CHOICE
Seat Leon
Skoda Octavia
Toyota Prius
Vauxhall Astra

Small SUV
Audi Q2
BMW X1
Kia Niro
Nissan Qashqai
Peugeot 3008 TMW CHOICE
Seat Ateca
Suzuki Ignis
Suzuki Vitara TMW CHOICE
Toyota C-HR
Volkswagen Tiguan

Large SUV
Ford Edge
Ford Kuga
Jaguar F-Pace
Land Rover Discovery Sport TMW CHOICE
Mazda CX-5
Mercedes-Benz GLC
Skoda Kodiaq

Luxury SUV
Audi Q7
Bentley Bentayga TMW CHOICE
Porsche Macan
Range Rover
Tesla Model X
Volvo XC90

MPV
Citroën C3 Picasso
Citroën Grand C4 Picasso TMW CHOICE
Ford Galaxy
Renault Scénic
Renault Grand Scénic
Volkswagen Touran
Vauxhall Zafira Tourer

Estate
Audi A4 Allroad
Skoda Fabia Estate
Skoda Superb Estate
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate
Mini Clubman
Renault Mégane Sport Tourer
Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer
Volvo V90 TMW CHOICE

Hot Hatch
Audi S3
BMW 140i
Ford Fiesta ST
Ford Focus RS TMW CHOICE
Renault Mégane Renaultsport 275 S
Suzuki Swift Sport

Convertible
Audi A3 Cabriolet
Audi TT Roadster
BMW 4 Series Convertible
Fiat 124 Spider TMW CHOICE
Mazda MX-5
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet
Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet
Rolls-Royce Dawn

Coupé
Audi A5
Audi TT
Aston Martin DB11 TMW CHOICE
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé
Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupé

Sports Car
Audi R8
Audi R8 Spyder
Audi TT RS
BMW M2
Ferrari 488 GTB
McLaren 540C TMW CHOICE
McLaren 570GT TMW CHOICE
Porsche Cayman
Porsche Boxster
Porsche 911

Electric Car
BMW i3
Hyundai Ioniq
Nissan Leaf
Renault Zoe
Tesla Model S TMW CHOICE
Tesla Model X TMW CHOICE
Volkswagen e-Golf

Executive Car
Alfa Romeo Giulia TMW CHOICE
Audi A3 Saloon
Audi A4
Mazda 6
Skoda Superb

Luxury Car
BMW 5 Series
BMW 7 Series
Porsche Panamera
Maserati Levante
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Rolls-Royce Ghost TMW CHOICE
Volvo S90 TMW CHOICE

Six awards for ŠKODA models in 2016 Auto Express Driver Power Customer Satisfaction Awards.

• Six awards for ŠKODA models in 2016 Driver Power Awards
• ŠKODA is third best car brand to own in UK according to survey
• Octavia wins family car class and finishes 3^rd out of 183 for practicality

ŠKODA’s models continue to drive home their reliability, quality, cost, practicality and comfort credentials in the annual Auto Express Driver Power survey.

The 2016 questionnaire received more than 49,000 responses, covering 32 manufacturers and 183 models, with ŠKODA models featuring heavily in the top 25 overall positions. 

Along with a number of wins and podium places in various classes and categories, the brand was voted third best in the UK to own, improving on last year’s result with an overall score of 90.45%.

Central to the manufacturer’s success was its best-selling Octavia model which triumphed in the Compact Family Car class. The 1^st place category result, which was also the 7^th most highly-rated car overall, saw the family model, with prices starting from £16,515, record a score of 92.52%.

Owners were particularly impressed with the model’s practicality, cementing 3^rd place in this specific category, confirming its usefulness as a tool for transporting families safely, in comfort and with space to spare. They also recommended its in-car tech (9^th overall) and praised its low running costs, reliability and performance.

Praise for ŠKODA continued in the Supermini class with two models featuring in the top 5 positions; the Citigo placing second and the Fabia posting a 4^th place finish. With a 91.94% rating the smallest car in the ŠKODA range finished 11^th in the whole survey, and the slightly larger Fabia returned a score of 91.29% for a 22^nd place result.

Another silver medal was awarded to the previous generation ŠKODA Superb, which beat 163 other vehicles to finish 2^nd in the Family Car category with a score of 91.46%. And the venerable Yeti continued the brand’s trend for high scores, thanks to its 91.58% rating in the toughly contested Offroad/SUV category and 16^th overall placement.  

The ŠKODA range starts at £8,275 for the Citigo supermini.

DRIVER POWER - Lexus shows the rest how its done, with six, yes SIX great results.

Best manufacturer and best car among six category awards

Lexus dominates the Auto Express Driver Power 2015 survey, receiving six awards including those for best manufacturer and – for the IS saloon – best car.

The IS also takes top spot in the category for best compact executive car with a 93.96 per cent satisfaction rating and is the highest-rated model for ease of driving. Its success reflects the growing popularity and appreciation of Lexus hybrid power as a smooth, refined, efficient and reliable technology.

The new Lexus NX compact SUV also makes an immediate impact, being named best car for build quality within its first six months on the road in the UK.

Lexus’s achievements extend all the way to making the most comfortable seats (in the RX).

Steve Fowler, Auto Express Editor-in-Chief, said: ““This is superb news for Lexus, winning a hat-full of Driver Power 2015 Awards.

“The new IS in first position is clearly much loved by its owners, while the new NX also features highly in our survey after just a few months on sale. In fact, even some of the older Lexus models are highly ranked, showing the enduring quality of the cars and the attention to detail of the dealers. Lexus is setting the standards other car makers need to aim for.”

Richard Balshaw, Lexus Director, said: “Auto Express’s Driver Power survey has impressive reach and relevance, making these awards all the more valuable.

“The opinions of Britain’s motorists are the best advocacy we could hope for as we increase our model range, bringing exciting new designs and more advanced technologies to the luxury car market.  

Furthermore, we remain committed to our original concept of delivering the best customer service, something everyone in Lexus has worked for since our brand was launched here 25 years ago.”

The full list of awards: –

Best Manufacturer

Best Car – third generation (current) Lexus IS

Best Compact Executive Car – third generation (current) Lexus IS

Best for Ease of Driving – third generation (current) Lexus IS

Best for Seat Comfort – second generation Lexus RX

Best for Build Quality – Lexus NX

That is not the end of the story: there are two further Auto Express Driver Power awards for Lexus that remain under wraps until an announcement later this year.

The results are drawn from the experience of motorists themselves – readers of Auto Express magazine and its website. This year’s survey attracted a record 61,113 responses, confirming it as the UK’s largest in-depth car satisfaction survey.