Kia Niro crowned 2023 Carbuyer Car of the Year

The all-new second-generation Kia Niro has been crowned the Carbuyer Car of the Year for 2023 at the annual Carbuyer Best Car Awards. The Niro also managed to scoop the awards for Best Small Family Car and Best Hybrid, making it a hat trick of trophies for the electrifying compact SUV.

Building on the striking design and tech-filled interior of the larger Kia Sportage, the new Niro impressed the entire Carbuyer team with its wide range of powertrains. Carbuyer Editor, Richard Ingram, said: “Our favourite small family car, our top hybrid, and of course our overall Car of the Year, the fabulous new Niro builds on everything we loved about the old one, but with sharper styling, and a cutting-edge interior. 

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“It remains a practical, efficient and easy-to-drive family car – with a powertrain to suit all buyers. The Kia Niro is a most deserving winner of our 2023 Car of the Year award."

The winners were all announced via a special livestream on Carbuyer’s YouTube channel. The Kia Niro dethroned last year’s winner, the Hyundai Tucson, which still managed to hold onto its Best Family Car title. Hyundai also snagged the award for Best Hot Hatchback with the brilliant i20 N.

Skoda – a brand that often aligns with Carbuyer’s focus on value for money – seems to be once again pulling out all the stops. The Skoda Fabia was awarded the Best Small Car, while the larger Skoda Kodiaq and Skoda Octavia Estate bagged the Best Large SUV and Best Estate Car awards respectively.

Relative newcomer Cupra took no fewer than two awards this year, winning the coveted Best Small Company Car prize for the new Born electric hatchback, as well as Best Hot SUV for the Formentor. The latter is available with a wide range of engines, including a fire-breathing 306bhp 2.0-litre turbo shared with the Volkswagen Golf R.

Elsewhere, BMW walked away with two gongs; the all-new i4 won Best Company Car, while the latest 2 Series Coupe bagged Best Sports Car. Sister brand MINI once again took the honours for Best Convertible.

As you’d expect given the current industry-wide shift towards electric power, there were several EV-only categories, too. The new Fiat 500 won Carbuyer’s Best Small Electric Car category, with the new MG ZS EV taking the Best Family Electric Car title. The Nissan Ariya was Carbuyer’s favourite Large Electric Car – demonstrating the huge progress the brand has made since the original Leaf launched over a decade ago.

But Carbuyer recognises that not everyone is ready to make the switch, and as such, made sure to recognise the burgeoning plug-in hybrid market by handing out a pair of trophies to the very best PHEVs currently on sale. The Mercedes C 300 e and Lexus NX 450h+ won Best Plug-in Hybrid and Best Large Plug-in Hybrid respectively.

Carbuyer continues to go from strength to strength setting the online benchmark for easy-to-understand news, reviews and tips and advice, and remains the only automotive website approved by the Plain English Campaign. Almost one million users visit Carbuyer.co.uk every month, and its YouTube channel now has almost 620,000 subscribers.

You can see the full list of winners, as well as watch the full awards video here. Carbuyer will be announcing its Used Car Awards – celebrating the very best second-hand car buys – on 11 October.