It is inevitable to feel like a grumpy old man when the only thing that pushes you to write an article is the sad situation in which the automotive industry is. Not even hypercars move the enthusiasm needle anymore, so it is not worth mentioning common vehicles. The latest example of that lack of creativity and passion is the 2025 (European) Car of the Year list of finalists. If you have not heard of it yet, that does not surprise me.
As Cristian Gnaticov wrote when he shared it with our readers, there is "not an exciting vehicle in sight." Not a single one. The seven candidates for the title are crossovers, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), or both. Can a crossover drive our attention? Yes, it can happen. Can a BEV excite anyone? I will not deny that, but they are not the cars that usually do so. Just check the list. You'll see what I want to discuss.
Following the alphabetical order, the first car is the Alfa Romeo Milano. Sorry, the Junior, a vehicle that had to change its name because it is not made in Italy. It is a crossover, and it has a derivative powered by a battery pack. So does the Citroën C3/ë-C3, which is more of a hatchback than a crossover, but it is a bit taller in the AirCross version. What is exciting about any of these models? The price? At around €23,000 ($24,240), the ë-C3 is no bargain. Its ICE equivalent starts at €15,000 ($15,808), which would be fair for such a compact car if the entry-level Dacia Sandero didn't cost €13,000 ($13,700). Even if the price tag was extraordinary, it should not define the greatness of any car.
Photo: Renault
The list continues with the Cupra Terramar and the new generation of the Dacia Duster, two other crossovers. The Terramar has a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) derivative that can reach up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) of range in electric-only mode. Although that is interesting, it is not remarkable. The last three cars are the Hyundai Inster (a subcompact electric hatchback that looks like a crossover), the Kia EV3 (another electric crossover), and the Renault 5, aka Alpine A290. This is the only electric hatchback candidate on the list that does not want to look like an SUV.
Some people may want to blame the jurors for this sad landscape. However, think about it for a minute: is there any other vehicle presented in 2024 that you would want to see as a Car of the Year finalist? Which one? If you check the original list of 50 models selected to compete, it is even worse, including stuff such as the new Ford Capri and the KGM Torres! I would not want to be in these colleagues' place. Having to select what is least mediocre must be a tough call, and I am sure they did their best to reach these five finalists. Their job was to sort out what the best product the automotive industry presented was. The result will just reflect that, even if that is to say 2024 was a year to forget. Any winner among the candidates will say precisely that.
If there is anyone to blame in the process, it is the automotive industry, which failed to present vehicles that would be praised years from now, as it used to happen with any Car of the Year. If you think about it, it has been a while since any winner has made a lasting impression on journalists or regular customers, which leads to an interesting conclusion not only about these prizes but also about car shows. Both are apparently losing their appeal. Several critics have determined that the public no longer cares about events involving vehicles. The Geneva Motor Show may have died convinced that these critics were right. However, it seems that the problem is much deeper and more difficult to fix.
Photo: Cupra
It is not car shows or automotive prizes that are becoming irrelevant. It is their very object. We do not have amazing models anymore, which may have several explanations.
It may be the case that all vehicles are now so good and well-designed that nothing manages to stand out. As Syndrome said in "The Incredibles," "When everyone's super, no one will be." However, that would relate solely to manufacturing, not to the design of these vehicles. After all, you can have fantastic cars that are incredibly different from each other. Let me rephrase that: you could. Nowadays, most models are electric crossovers or SUVs, as the Car of the Year list shows.
That leads us to a second and more likely theory: automakers do not dare anything anymore. Either you sell what everybody else seems to be delivering, or you are doomed – not necessarily on sales charts, but with shareholders. No executive is willing to put their bonuses or even jobs on the line to create something extraordinary. There are teams dedicated to foreseeing what is going to sell and what is destined to flop – as there are polling organizations. Sedans, minivans, and station wagons died because of that. Some of these body types still resist but are way less frequent than crossovers and SUVs nowadays.
These days of playing safe would never have given birth to vehicles such as the Citroën DS, Tucker 48, Renault Espace (or the Dodge Caravan if you prefer), and even the Land Rover Range Rover that started the SUV trend. Focusing on what sells may be wise from a business perspective, but it also sounds dull – as dull as the 2025 Car of the Year list. Get used to it. Things do not seem to be on their way to change anytime soon for the automotive industry.
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