One of three new awards for this year, the Best Luxury Car award covers some of the finest saloons available to buy at any price.
Despite the cost-of-living pressures affecting most households, the luxury car market remains in rude health. While we obviously don’t see the same volume of new cars each year as in mainstream categories, the quality of new vehicles is always high. As with every part of the new car market, the shift from fossil-fuel power to electricity is visible – and has led to some quite stunning luxury EVs that are very well suited to electric power.
Our awards recognise both the best new models to have been launched over the last 12 months, but also the best overall cars in each category – because newer doesn’t always mean better, as you can see below.
Best new luxury car: BMW i7 (81%)
The BMW i7 has received near-universal praise from the UK media since its arrival, with its spacious and tech-laden cabin being earmarked as a particular highlight. In fact, frequent comparisons have been drawn between the i7 and a Rolls-Royce, such are its levels of opulence and refinement.
A typically bold BMW flagship, the i7 celebrates all the qualities the brand has come to represent and leads it into the electric age. If BMW’s stylists could achieve the same level of elegance that the engineers have managed, the i7’s Expert Rating score of 81% would surely jump several points higher.
Class champion, electric: Porsche Taycan (89%)
Even in its most basic form, the Porsche Taycan qualifies as a performance car. But in top-spec Turbo S spec, it offers 760hp – a number that puts it into genuine supercar territory.
Car enthusiasts have long feared that EVs will mean the death of sports cars, super saloons and hot hatches. But the Taycan, along with its closely related cousin, the Audi e-tron GT, have shown that this doesn’t have to be the case. Sure, things will certainly be different. But the future is much brighter than the doomsdayers would have you believe.
- Porsche Taycan (2019 onwards) – Expert Rating
- More Porsche Expert Ratings, reviews, news and features
Class champion, petrol/diesel: Rolls-Royce Phantom (91%)
The eighth-generation Rolls-Royce Phantom is comfortably the most expensive saloon car on sale in the UK, and the company claims that most owners will spend substantial money over and above the starting price to personalise their cars in various ways.
The Phantom has been particularly complimented for its build quality and unparalleled luxury, with the only criticisms being that it is very expensive (obviously) and the running costs are similarly eye-watering.
- Rolls-Royce Phantom (2017 onwards) – Expert Rating
- More Rolls-Royce ratings, reviews, news and features
