yundai’s All-new SANTA FE is celebrating significant success already, having been crowned Car of the Year in the 2025 Carwow Awards.
There was further recognition for the SUV as it also collected the online marketplace’s Family Values award, while the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N’s amazing run of success continued as it was hailed as Carwow’s Tech Trailblazer. And the overall quality and depth of Hyundai’s entire product range was further reflected as it was named Brand of the Year.
Carwow’s awards are decided by its editorial team, who pick out their top choices from hundreds of cars reviewed annually, based on price, performance, efficiency, comfort and practicality.
,,Hyundai has absolutely smashed it out of the park. Not only is it building genuinely stylish and desirable cars, they are good value for money, packed full of technology and, in the case of the IONIQ 5 N, have a fantastic sense of humour that makes electric cars fun. No other car maker is showing such a breadth of abilities as Hyundai right now.
Mat Watson
Leading the way for the judges was the latest arrival to the Hyundai line-up, the All-new SANTA FE, which despite having only been on sale for a few months, added Carwow’s Car of the Year title to a number of other awards, including Best Hybrid Seven-seater from WhatCar? and Large ICE Car of the Year from the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers.
Available with two efficient Hybrid powertrains and one Plug-in Hybrid set-up, the SANTA FE is enhanced by a striking design, with a distinctive boxy silhouette and customer-centric spacious interior, suited to a range of outdoor and urban activities. Fully foldable second- and third-row seats provide class-leading interior space, and it also comes with a myriad of safety features, plus a full suite of Hyundai Smart Sense Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
,,The Hyundai SANTA FE is a fantastic all-rounder, being great to drive, comfortable and obscenely practical. The interior fit and finish is up there with the best of them, yet it’s priced in line with more budget-friendly alternatives – nothing else has impressed us as much this year. It is the perfect family car, because it’s big and spacious, but also great value for money; it has the design and build quality of apparently posher cars, with a price that undercuts them. And because you can seat seven or fold the third row to open up a massive boot, it’s ludicrously practical too.
Mat Watson
,,The Hyundai IONIQ 5 N is proof that electric cars can be an absolute riot to drive. Sure, the big battery, powerful motors and other upgrades make it a capable performance car, but it’s the synthesised engine noise and ‘gearshifts’ that make it so fun and feel like such a game changer. The engineering is incredibly complex, but it’s executed so well that everything works seamlessly – and most importantly puts a massive smile on your face.
Mat Watson
Carwow’s recognition of two very different Hyundais, the All-new SANTA FE and the IONIQ 5 N, plus the brand itself, underlines again just what a competitive product offering we have right across the board. And the great news is that more exciting new models are on the way that will also hold great appeal for customers.
Ashley Andrew
