What Car? Car of the Year 2005 - Introduction

It’s certainly been a busy year and choosing just 17 winners from so many impressive cars was far from easy.

One model that carried high expectations for us was the Ford Focus. It certainly didn’t disappoint, offering more space, improved refinement and a better drive than ever. The fact that such a fine car didn’t win an award is testament to the quality of the opposition.

The small hatch class isn’t the only one in which competition has been tough. The latest city cars are now so good that we think they stand comparison with the best superminis, so we’ve merged the two categories in this year’s awards.

There are many other cars that have left their mark during the past 12 months, including the Audi A3 Sportback, BMW 1-series, Citroen C4, the Jaguar X-type Estate and the Vauxhall Astra.

None were good enough to take the laurels in their class and go on to fight it out for our overall title, however. Read on through our exclusive special report and watch our video tests to find out what models did impress us enough to win in the What Car? Car of the Year 2005.

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