This year’s News UK Motor Awards 2024 winners have been announced with coverage running on print and digital channels across The Sunday Times, Driving.co.uk, The Sun and TheSun.co.uk.
The awards, which have now been running for seven years, celebrate the best new vehicles across a huge range of segments, from family SUVs to sports cars, as well as city to luxury cars. The awards are judged by a panel of News UK’s expert automotive journalists including The Sun’s Rob Gill, Will Dron from Driving.co.uk, Nick Rufford from Sunday Times magazine and David Green on LUXX magazine.
The Porsche Macan Electric was named The Sunday Times Car of the Year and the Mini Cooper triumphed as The Sun Car of the Year. Jeremy Clarkson was named Motoring Personality of the Year and Renault picked up the title of Manufacturer of the Year. Presenter of Times Radio’s Weekend Afternoon show Alexis Conran hosted proceedings.
In addition, the Motor Awards once again recognised the hero models that have truly stood the test of time, both in terms of build and design quality as well as popularity with motorists. The judges were in unanimous agreement that this year only one car deserved to be crowned both The Sunday Times Legend Car of the Year as well as The Sun Legend Car of the Year. Step forward the Volkswagen Golf, an iconic model that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Rob Walsh, Motors Category Director, News UK, said: “It’s time once again to celebrate the best in automotive class and what an impressive set of winners we have to reveal in 2024. Covering an extensive range of categories that reflect News UK’s breadth of valuable audiences, the Motor Awards recognises the vehicles that have excelled in their respective segments and honours their success.
“Here at News UK we continue to provide extensive editorial coverage across our range of market leading titles, with our motoring experts’ opinions valued and trusted by our audiences. We also offer our manufacturer partners highly effective commercial solutions across print, radio, digital and video, helping them reach and engage their target consumers at scale. Congratulations to all our well deserving winners.”
Rob Gill, Motors Editor, The Sun, said: “The Mini Cooper is hands-down our favourite new buy from our head and heart. Classier inside and out, with a less is more approach, and that dinner plate-sized touchscreen carries the same cutting-edge tech as a £100k Beemer. Mega fun to drive, as it always has been. The icing on the cake is that Mini is a homegrown hero. The petrol engines are made at Hams Hall, the body panels in Swindon, and the whole thing is put together at Oxford. British engineering at its best.”
Nick Rufford, Sunday Times Motoring Editor, said: “Porsche’s bestselling SUV has been reinvented for the electric age with an even more dizzying turn of speed. Aimed at drivers who don’t want to give up sports car performance, the Macan electric is a relaxing place to be and so quiet you can hear birdsong when you stop at junctions”.
Will Dron, Editor of Driving.co.uk, said: “Renault is the standout carmaker this year, with a product offensive to make rivals weep. The new Renault 5 is a brilliant modern interpretation of a classic that brings fun and colour to the small electric car segment, while the Scenic is a characterful and practical family EV. Both arguably offer the best value in their respective classes. With the new Renault 4 on its way, and updates of the existing line-up, Renault is most definitely on a roll and a well deserving winner of our Manufacturer of the Year”.
In full, the award winners are:
- SUNDAY TIMES CAR OF THE YEAR – Porsche Macan Electric
- SUNDAY TIMES LEGEND CAR OF THE YEAR – Volkswagen Golf
- THE SUN CAR OF THE YEAR – Mini Cooper
- THE SUN LEGEND CAR OF THE YEAR – Volkswagen Golf
- MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR – Renault
- FAMILY CAR OF THE YEAR – Renault Scenic
- VALUE CAR OF THE YEAR – Dacia Duster
- CITY/ SMALL CAR OF THE YEAR – Kia Picanto
- DOG FRIENDLY CAR OF THE YEAR – Skoda Superb Estate
- SMALL SUV/ CROSSOVER OF THE YEAR – Kia EV3
- MID-SIZED SUV OF THE YEAR – Volvo EX40
- LARGE SUV OF THE YEAR – Skoda Kodiaq
- COMPANY CAR OF THE YEAR – BMW 5 Series
- ELECTRIC CAR OF THE YEAR – Renault 5
- USED CAR OF THE YEAR – Tesla Model 3
- HYBRID CAR OF THE YEAR – Nissan Qashqai e-Power
- PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR – Jeremy Clarkson
- ADVENTURE CAR OF THE YEAR – Land Rover Defender Octa
- BEST DESIGNED CAR OF THE YEAR – Mercedes-AMG GT
- LUXURY CAR OF THE YEAR – Ferrari 12Cilindri
- SUNDAY TIMES HOT HATCH OF THE YEAR – Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
- SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS CAR OF THE YEAR – McLaren Artura Spider
- THE SUN VAN OF THE YEAR – Ford Transit Custom
- THE SUN HOT HATCH OF THE YEAR – Audi S3
- THE SUN DREAM CAR OF THE YEAR- Aston Martin Vantage
The judges for this year’s awards were:
- Rob Gill, Motors Editor, The Sun
- Nick Rufford, Motoring Editor, The Sunday Times
- Will Dron, Editor, driving.co.uk
- David Green, Motoring Editor, Luxx magazine
Please visit www.driving.co.uk and www.thesun.co.uk/motors for full details of the winners.