BMW, Ford, Audi, Nissan and more win big at Car of the Year Awards - full list

The Nissan Leaf was the runaway winner at the 2026 Auto Express New Car Awards, with a panel of experts praising the electric vehicle for its impressive range and competitive price.Nissan's flagship electric vehicle walked away with gongs for Car of the Year, Small Company Car of the Year, and Affordable Electric Car of the Year.Drivers can get their hands on the Nissan Leaf for as little as £28,849 for the 52kWh variant, while the 75kWh model starts from £32,349 and delivers a staggering 386 miles of range.Nissan highlighted that the third-generation Leaf, which was the first mainstream electric car, is eligible for the maximum £3,750 discount through the Electric Car Grant. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The Sunderland-produced Nissan Leaf echoes the brand's acronym of being a Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable Family car.Richard Ingram, deputy editor of Auto Express, described the Nissan Leaf as outstanding, noting that rivals were unable to beat its mix of range, pricing and performance.Reacting to the impressive showing at the awards, managing director of Nissan Motor GB, James Taylor, said the manufacturer was over the moon that the Leaf had been held in such high esteem.He continued, saying: A big thanks to the team for recognising the hard work that's gone into making this third-generation model the best yet!To see Leaf recognised as Auto Express Car of the Year is something all of us at Nissan can be incredibly proud of – not least the incredible team at our Sunderland plant, which has now built three generations of award-winning Leaf.A wide range of brands captured top awards at the event, including premium brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, as well as more affordable brands like Cupra and Renault.Alongside the Nissan Leaf, the Kia PV5 picked up three awards for its Passenger and Cargo versions, notably Family Car of the Year, Electric Van of the Year and Small Van of the Year.The popular South Korean brand also saw the Picanto win City Car of the Year for the second year running, while the EV2 and EV3 were highly commended in their respective categories.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSHammersmith Bridge will continue banning cars amid £300million repair cost - 'Disappointing'Millions of drivers face delays to receive £829 as FCA suspends car finance compensation schemeLondon council begins seizing electric bikes causing 'significant obstruction' on streetsPhil McNamara, editor at large at Auto Express, said: Kia's brilliant new electric PV5 dominated three categories at the Auto Express New Car Awards 2026. The versatile and fun-to-drive Passenger version won Family Car of the Year, while the commercial variant won two of our four van trophies: Small Van of the Year and Electric Van of the Year. The awards are a mark of the PV5's all-round excellence.More than half of the class winners are new for 2026, with 14 of the 26 winners seeing a fresh model winning a top award.Winners of the 2026 Auto Express New Car AwardsCar of the Year - Nissan LeafCity Car of the Year - Kia PicantoSupermini of the Year - Cupra RavalFamily Car of the Year - Kia PV5 PassengerEstate Car of the Year - Skoda SuperbSmall Company Car of the Year - Nissan Leaf Mid-size Company Car of the Year - Mercedes-Benz CLALarge Company Car of the Year - Audi A6 e-tron Small SUV of the Year - Renault 4Mid-size SUV of the Year - Skoda ElroqLarge SUV of the Year - Skoda KodiaqSmall Premium SUV of the Year - Audi Q3Mid-size Premium SUV of the Year - BMW iX3Large Premium SUV of the Year - Range Rover SportHot Hatch of the Year - Volkswagen Golf GTICoupé of the Year - BMW 2 SeriesConvertible of the Year - Mazda MX-5Performance Car of the Year - Porsche 911Affordable Electric Car of the Year - Nissan LeafPremium Electric Car of the Year - BMW iX3Affordable Hybrid Car of the Year - MG HSPremium Hybrid Car of the Year - Audi A5Pick-up of the Year - Ford RangerElectric Van of the Year - Kia PV5 CargoSmall Van of the Year - Kia PV5 CargoMid-size Van of the Year - Ford Transit CustomLarge Van of the Year - Renault MasterDriver Power car - Tesla Model 3Driver Power manufacturer - Mercedes-Benz Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter