What Car? has revealed the shortlist for its 2015 Car of the Year Award.
 
The shortlist comprises 26 vehicles that went on sale for the first time in 2014. It includes the Smart Fortwo, Volkswagen Golf SV, Nissan X-Trail, Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe, BMW i8, Porsche Macan and the Lamborghini Huracan.

As well as the overall Car of the Year Award, the event celebrates the very best vehicles across 16 separate caterories, as chosen by the public and What Car? industry professionals.

For 2015, individual categories are: city car, small car, family car, electric car, coupé, estate car, mpv, hot hatch, convertible, small SUV, large SUV, executive car, sports car, luxury car, reader award and a safety award.

This last award is sponsored by the Thatcham research centre and open only to vehicles that have achieved five Euro NCAP stars and come fitted with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB).

What Car? editor Jim Holder said: “The new car market has been buoyant in the UK during 2014 and the automotive industry in the UK has bloomed – that means there are a heap of exciting new cars that are all genuine contenders for our main COTY prize. No wonder the decision-making process around the shortlist was even more intense than usual.”

Last year, the Sunderland-built Nissan Qashqai was crowned the overall winner.

This year’s event takes place on January 7 at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London. 

The list of nominees:

City Car
Hyundai i10
Renault Twingo
Seat Mii
Skoda Citigo
Smart Forfour
Smart Fortwo
Volkswagen Up

Small car
Dacia Sandero
Ford Fiesta
Hyundai i20
Mazda 2
Mini 5dr
Skoda Fabia
Vauxhall Corsa
Volkswagen Polo

Family car
Audi A3 Sportback
Ford Focus
Ford Mondeo
Kia Cee’d
Nissan Pulsar
Skoda Octavia

Electric car
Audi A3 e-tron
BMW i8
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Renault Zoe Expression
Tesla Model S
VW e-Golf
VW Golf GTE

Coupe
Audi TT
BMW 2 Series
Jaguar F-type Coupe
Mercedes S-Class Coupe
Peugeot RCZ R
Seat Leon SC
Volkswagen Scirocco

Estate car
Audi A6 Avant
BMW 5 Series Touring
Ford Mondeo Estate
Kia Cee'd Sportswagon
Volkswagen Golf Estate
Volkswagen Passat Estate

MPV
BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
Citroen C3 Picasso
Citroen Grand C4 Picasso
Fiat 500L MPW
Seat Alhambra
Volkswagen Golf SV

Hot hatch
BMW M135i
Ford Fiesta ST
Suzuki Swift Sport
Volkswagen Golf GTI
Volkswagen Polo GTI

Convertible
Audi A3 Cabriolet
Citroen DS3 Cabriolet
Fiat 500C
Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet
Mercedes SL
Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet

Small SUV
Audi Q3
Citroen C4 Cactus
Kia Soul
Land Rover Evoque
Nissan Qashqai
Renault Captur

Large SUV
BMW X3
Land Rover Discovery Sport
Lexus NX
Mazda CX-5
Nissan X-Trail
Porsche Cayenne
Porsche Macan
Range Rover Sport
Volvo XC90

Executive car
Audi A3 Saloon
Audi A6
Audi A7 Sportback
BMW 3 Series
BMW 5 Series
Mercedes CLS
Porsche Panamera
Volkswagen Passat

Sports car
BMW M3
Ferrari 458 Speciale
Lamborghini Huracan
Porsche 911 Carrera
Porsche 911 GT3
Porsche Boxster
Porsche Cayman GTS
McLaren 650S Spider
Mercedes AMG GT

Luxury car
Bentley Flying Spur
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Land Rover Range Rover
Rolls-Royce Ghost II
Rolls-Royce Phantom

Reader Award
Audi A4
Bentley SUV
Fiat 500X
Ford S-Max
Honda HR-V
Jaguar XF
Kia Sorento
Mazda MX-5
Mercedes MLC
Nissan Murano
Range Rover Evoque cabrio
Skoda Superb
Suzuki Vitara
Toyota FCV
Vauxhall Viva
Volvo XC90