What's all this about?

The UK Car of the Year (UKCOTY) 2025 award has been rumbling along in the background, with an assorted, 30-strong-plus panel of the leading lights of the country's motoring journalist community (which basically comprises the truly talented people as the rest of the judges, and then - bafflingly - me as well) selecting their favourite cars in seven distinct categories, prior to one of this magnificent septet picking up the overall award. And now that glorious day has come, with the confirmation that the judges selected the Kia EV3 as the deserving 2025 overall champion. It's the second year running that the Korean firm has won the top honours, as the larger sibling of the EV3, the seven-seat EV9, triumphed in 2024, and it's also the fourth year in succession that an electric vehicle (EV) of some sort has picked up the prestigious gong.

Which class did the EV3 win, and what was it up against on the seven-strong shortlist?

The EV3 was the winner of the Small Crossover section, before going on to vanquish its foes for the overall UKCOTY 2025 Award. But it was an incredibly talented field on the shortlist, making choosing a winner a tough call; sounds a bit self-aggrandising on behalf of myself and the other judges, maybe, but the seven cars were all truly excellent choices so, er... we did well. Go us. Yes.

Naturally, reflecting the fact EVs have won four UKCOTYs on the bounce, electric machines were well represented in the 2025 line-up too. Aside from the EV3, the Polestar 4 triumphed in the Executive Car class, while the absolutely astounding (and gamechanging) Hyundai Ioniq 5N was rightly picked by the panel as the best Performance Car.

It was a good year for Hyundai in general, because it was the only manufacturer to get two cars onto the shortlist, the mighty 5N joined by the equally superb Santa Fe, which was the winner of the Large Crossover section. Other worthy winners were the Suzuki Swift (Small Car), the Skoda Superb (Family Car), and the MINI Countryman (Medium Crossover), the latter of which was represented at the final judging drive day by a twin-motor electric variant (although the Countryman also comes with petrol power too).

That is a good list. What did Kia think of the win?

It was, naturally, delighted. Paul Philpott, the president and CEO of Kia UK, was presented with the trophy by John Challen, the co-chairman of UKCOTY, and Mr Philpott said: "We're delighted to once again be victorious winning the outright UK Car of the Year Award with EV3. This follows our success in 2024 with EV9.
"These consecutive awards clearly demonstrate Kia's strong leadership in electrification, the genuine demand from UK customers, and the quality of our product line-up. With this outstanding recognition and our increasing order bank, we and our dealer partners are confident EV3 will continue being a popular and accessible choice for the growing number of people switching to electric."

Meanwhile, John Challen added: "Securing back-to-back successes in this competition has only been achieved once before, which shows the outstanding attributes and appeal of the Kia EV3. Kia has successfully grown its EV portfolio and the specification, driving range, and distinctive styling are all EV3 elements that impressed our panel of experts."

You can find out more about the judges, the process and previous winners by heading on over to www.ukcoty.co.uk.

Matt Robinson - 6 Mar 2025