Economists call them Black Swan Events; unpredictable, with large effects. Events such as President Trump’s tariffs signed on March 26 certainly put the world’s car industries into a flat spin, due to a 25 per cent overall tariff on vehicles entering the US.
Yet the UK is in a (relatively) good position, with a trade deal that lowers that tariff to 10 per cent on the first 100,000 cars exported to the US. Since that’s roughly the total amount of UK car exports to the US (mostly Land Rovers), we are better off than most, but only just. The car industry matters.
Not that this message appears to have got through to a Treasury hell bent on removing what it sees as loopholes in vehicle tax rules. First to go was the controversial dispensation to crew-cab pickups, which were regarded as commercial vehicles with corresponding light-touch taxation. This loophole has long been in the Treasury’s crosshairs.
However, the widely used Employee Car Ownership Scheme (ECOS) wasn’t on their radar, but is now being withdrawn. This was based on employees owning a car thus avoiding benefit-in-kind taxation, but with employer support for the payments on that car. While some might see it as a tax-avoiding perk, it also increases the vital stock of nearly-new cars for sale, while helping low-paid motor industry workers.
Electric vehicles
I have been deluged all year with trumpeting e-mails about rising electric car (EV) sales figures. First is that these are largely to fleet buyers incentivised to purchase EVs to the extent that, as one accountant told me: “You’d be crazy to run anything but an EV through the books these days.”
Second (and despite the Government topping up its EV grant scheme), private sale of EVs are still low. In fact private sales of all new vehicles are low (less than 40 per cent of the total), despite the total market for 2025 expected to be back above 2 million.
It is difficult to see this as anything other than entirely predictable, with the Government’s “give with the right hand, take with the left” approach partly to blame. Typical of this was the budget proposal to charge EVs and hybrids 3p per mile. Apparently this was subject to a consultation period, although I wonder exactly who was consulted. Presumably not those who drive in Europe and will be charged for miles amassed abroad.
While this sort of charging is championed by economists, it has long had a negative effect on voters and on potential EV owners. Just to remind the Government, the industry might be selling more new EVs, but it is still far short of the zero-emission mandate of 33 per cent EV sales in 2026. Unless that’s another commitment that falls by the wayside as legislators waver over implementing emissions targets.
Still, there’s nothing like killing the goose that is far from laying the golden egg, is there?
Yet despite the uncertainty, there have been some brilliant cars released in 2025. Here are my top five, with those of my fellow road-tester Alex Robbins below.
How we selected
The Telegraph’s comparisons of cars in various categories and reviews of new cars are carried out by award-winning professional automotive journalists with many years of experience, either as a judge of the European Car of the Year or UK Car of the Year awards.
Each vehicle is tested in real-world conditions for at least a week, focusing on key attributes such as usability and practicality, comfort, performance, quality and value for money. It is also compared with its closest rivals in each aspect.
Where applicable, family-friendly qualities are also assessed, such as boot space, ease of fitting and removing child seats. For performance cars, we place a greater emphasis on the engine, acceleration, handling and top speed, although each car’s all-round ability and fitness for purpose remain key.
Fiat Grande Panda Hybrid
