Currently reading: BMW 5 Series claims What Car? Car of the Year 2017 award
BMW's luxury car defeats a high-quality shortlist, having been commended for its efficiency, handling, refinement, technology and sense of luxury

The BMW 5 Series has been announced as the What Car? Car of the Year 2017, beating an illustrious shortlist of cars including the Seat Ateca, Porsche 718 Cayman and Skoda Kodiaq.

The 5 Series fended off stiff competition from Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce to win the Luxury Car of the Year award, before beating all the other category winners to be named the best new car of the past 12 months.

A team of judges representing Autocar’s sister brand What Car? commended the 5 Series for its efficiency, handling, refinement, technology and sense of luxury.

BMW Brand senior vice-president Hildegard Wortmann collected the Car of the Year Award at an awards ceremony in London this evening. He said: “For the BMW 5 Series to win the prestigious ‘Car of the Year’ award is an honour and testament to the hard work that goes into producing one of BMW’s core models.

“The BMW 5 Series is a brand-shaping saloon and in times of rapid change within the automotive industry we believe the seventh generation model points the way into the future. It is a truly outstanding car and I am very grateful to What Car? for this great recognition.”

What Car? editor Steve Huntingford added: “The BMW 5 Series is no stranger to success at the What Car? Awards; it’s something of a dynasty that has always stood for excellence, but the latest model moves things on again in all the areas that matter most to buyers.”

Other notable winners during the night included the Peugeot 3008, which won the Nexcel-sponsored Technology prize for its i-Cockpit interior layout, and the Toyota Prius, which was awarded the Safety award presented by What Car? and Thatcham. A full list of winners can be found at the What Car? Awards microsite.

What Car? Car of the Year Awards category winners

City car Hyundai i10 1.2 Premium SE

Small car Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI 90 SE

Family car Audi A3 Sportback 1.4 TFSI 150 Sport

Hot hatch Ford Fiesta ST-2 3dr

Small SUV Seat Ateca 1.4 EcoTSI 150 SE

Large SUV Skoda Kodiaq 2.0 TDI 150 4x4 SE 7st

Luxury SUV Audi Q7 3.0 TDI 272 quattro SE

MPV Volkswagen Touran 1.6 TDI 115 SE

Estate car Skoda Superb Estate 2.0 TDI 150 SE Technology

Electric car Renault Zoe Q90 Z.E. 40 Dynamique Nav

Executive car Audi A4 3.0 TDI 218 Sport

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Luxury car BMW 5 Series 520d SE

Convertible Mazda MX-5 2.0 SE-L Nav

Coupe Audi TT 1.8 TFSI Sport

Sports car Porsche 718 Cayman 2.0

Reader award Honda Civic Type R

Safety award Toyota Prius 

Technology award Peugeot 3008 i-Cockpit 

Car of the year BMW 5 Series 520d SE

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winniethewoo 12 January 2017

Nooooooooooooo

I just checked the What car website. The Astra is the under £18k family car winner! Apologies to Jim Holder. He has been true to form. Still, would rather take the bus than drive an Astra.
odie_the_dog 12 January 2017

Good to see some people place

Good to see some people place the badge above the quality of the engineering.

Usefully it means we can easily identify people like you, because they all drive cars with a VW badge or a BMW badge.

odie_the_dog 12 January 2017

Good to see some people place

Good to see some people place the badge above the quality of the engineering.

Usefully it means we can easily identify people like you, because they all drive cars with a VW badge or a BMW badge.

abkq 12 January 2017

winniethewoo wrote:

winniethewoo wrote:

Still, would rather take the bus than drive an Astra.

However competent Vauxhalls/Opels may be, these cars persistently fail to make any visual impression because there is nothing that defines a Vauxhall/Opel. Its not a question of premium branding but rather one of recognizability. A Fiat 500 is instantly recognizable as such, so is a Mini, Skoda has evolved a highly distinctive design language, Ford changes its design language rather too frequently but one can usually pick out a Ford as a Ford. But Vauxhall/Opel dont seem interested in building brand image.

winniethewoo 12 January 2017

abkq wrote:

abkq wrote:
winniethewoo wrote:

Still, would rather take the bus than drive an Astra.

However competent Vauxhalls/Opels may be, these cars persistently fail to make any visual impression because there is nothing that defines a Vauxhall/Opel. But Vauxhall/Opel dont seem interested in building brand image.

Vauxhall do have a house style. I call it jelly mould styling. A lot of their cars look like they have come out of a child's jelly mould. I hate Astra's and Vauxhall's in general because they are shit cars that make my back and head ache. Woeful body control, harsh ride, you name it. If its a negative attribute, Vauxhall embody it apart from cheapness and crash safety. Hate them the avengeance.

odie_the_dog 12 January 2017

"Woeful body control, harsh

"Woeful body control, harsh ride, you name it. If its a negative attribute, the VW Golf embodies it apart from cheapness "

There - fixed it for you.

Saucerer 12 January 2017

A3 wins because of the badge?

I can only assume that the only reason the A3 came top in the family car category was purely because of its interior quality and the badge. Otherwise the mechanically identical Golf, which is superior to the A3 in almost every area, and whose interior quality isn't that far behind the Audi's, would have won.
xxxx 12 January 2017

Badge or just plain different and other reasons for on top

Saucerer wrote:

I can only assume that the only reason the A3 came top in the family car category was purely because of its interior quality and the badge. Otherwise the mechanically identical Golf, which is superior to the A3 in almost every area, ...

Apart from different type of rear suspension, different setup, more 4 wheel drive options, more engine options etc but apart from that they're identical.
The award wasn't based on just mechanics, also they look totally different from outside, looks totally different from inside, I could go on.

winniethewoo 12 January 2017

Isn't Jim Holder editor of

Isn't Jim Holder editor of Whatcar? Why then is the Vauxhall Astra not the winner? Why didnt it even win the family car category? Could it be despite all his pronouncements about badge snobbery etc. the Astra is still a dogs dinner?