“My car brand of the year is….Kia”

It's Christmas, so it's time to look back on what the past 12 months have brought us car fans. I thought I’d reflect on the car maker that – in my view – has had the best year of the lot. It does seem to be the awards season, so I’ll don my tuxedo and announce my car brand of 2023 as... Kia.

Whether it’s the affordable Picanto or the brand’s brilliant new range topper, the EV9 (described by John McIlroy as ‘the best Kia ever’ – and he doesn’t give praise lightly!), Kia is making cars that tick the right boxes for a wide variety of car buyers.

And it shows. Towards the end of November, Kia UK smashed through the 100,000-sales mark and surpassed last year’s total with more than a month to spare.

It’s no surprise that when you talk to some of the new brands planning to come to the UK, many of them cite Kia as the company they want to emulate. And having been privy to some of the stuff the firm has coming in 2024 and beyond, I reckon the success story will run and run.

Honourable mentions for 2023 also go to Dacia and MG – a new Duster and a Cyberster could be the perfect two-car garage – while my Bated Breath awards for 2024 go to Jaguar (at long last), Volkswagen (for how excited I am about Thomas Schafer’s reinvention of the brand), and Renault for its continued Renaulution. Let’s see.

If I were to hand out a trophy for outstanding achievement, it would be to the Auto Express team – every single person plays a huge part in getting the biggest stories to you, whether in print or digital form. And we’re proud that you’ve made us the UK’s favourite weekly car magazine by some margin.

In fact, the most important award goes to you, to say thank you for the tremendous support you give us, for your fabulous feedback – we take everything on board – and for your continued love of what we love: cars and driving. Have a great Christmas and a fabulous new year.

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