Best new cars of 2018

2018 saw some amazing new models arrive in UK car showrooms. It’s true a fair few of them were SUVs of some sort (T-Roc, E-Pace, X2, XC40), but which new cars were the best? We’ve rounded up our very favourites and listed them here…

Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Costing the best part of £250k, the Cullinan is the first ever SUV from Rolls-Royce and it didn’t disappoint with its monstrous 563bhp 6.75-litre twin-turbo engine. This unit can get the 2.5-tonne Cullinan up to 62mph in 5.2 seconds.

Its luxurious feel is so obvious that one magazine wrote that even if you were blindfolded, you’d know you were in a Rolls-Royce within 50 yards of setting off. It’s not just a Phantom that can take off-road rubble and ruts with ease; it’s a genuinely extraordinary car.

Read our roundup of Cullinan reviews here.

Lamborghini Urus

Lambo also got in on the SUV act in 2018 with this: the Urus. Boasting unmistakably Lambo styling, the ‘world’s first super SUV’ can sprint to 62mph in 3.6 seconds, with a top speed of 189mph.

Find out what the critics made of the Urus here

Ford Focus

Ford’s family-sized hatchback isn’t specifically designed to raise your pulse rate or blow minds. It just needs to do a lot of things very well, which it does. It looks great, it’s efficient, spacious, affordable and ‘drives as pleasingly as a Focus does’ – according to Autocar.

Check out more views on the Focus

BMW X5

When it comes to premium mid-size SUVs, the BMW X5 is one of the leading names. That remains the case with this new fourth-gen model, which was hailed as ‘a fantastically capable all-rounder’ by Auto Express.

It may struggle to truly excel in any particular area, but the X5 remains one of the best-in-class.

Find out what the rest of the motoring media thought of the X5

Jaguar E-Pace

Yep, another SUV (we did warn you at the start) and this one is essentially a downsized F-Pace – Jaguar’s debut off-roader from 2016.

Auto Express and Autocar liked it, awarding four-star ratings, describing it as a “great blend of agility and comfort with decent cruising refinement and impressive practicality”, not to mention “fun to drive – exactly how a Jaguar should be”.

However, Evo didn’t, which took issue with Jaguar’s money-chasing: “The E-Pace is sure to sell well, but those buyers will not be getting a class-leading vehicle. Jaguar Land Rover already has a full lineup of SUVs on offer through the Land Rover brand itself [but] Jaguar wants a slice of that growing pie too”.

Volvo XC40

We told you all about Volvo’s compact SUV in December 2017, but it didn’t actually come to market until the following May, and after being named WhatCar?’s car of the year, it more than deserves its place here.

It’s a little funkier and more youthful than the fairly mature XC60 and XC90, but no other compact SUV class offers the same mix of clever packaging, uncluttered interior design, cruising comfort and great connectivity.

Audi A1

Reviews for the littlest Audi weren’t universally glowing (a very four-star car it seems), but anyone in the market for a compact yet premium hatchback couldn’t go wrong with the second-generation A1. Despite being longer and more spacious than before, the familiar styling means there’s no mistaking this new A1 for anything else.

Read all you need to know about new Audi A1.

Which were your favourite cars in 2018? Let us know down in the comments.