The Professional Driver Car of the Year awards is firmly established as the biggest and best reader-judged automotive awards in the industry.

Nobody else does it our way. The awards are among the most rigorous in the automotive industry. We hold an annual judging day event at Epsom Downs racecourse in Surrey, where we give our readers a rare chance to evaluate competing cars back-to-back, in real-world conditions. More than 60 cars are delivered to the venue for a full day’s evaluation.

We invite many of the leading operators in the country to join us as judges for two days. This year we will be looking to attract a 200 strong judging panel comprising heads of chauffeur and private hire firms, experienced chauffeurs and carefully chosen editors and journalists, who will bring their objective eye and road testing experience to bear. Judges will complete 17-point score sheets for each car they test. They will drive the cars, ride in the back seats and test out the loadspace.

There are seven categories. As well as chauffeur cars, executive vehicles and private hire cars, we choose the best MPV for chauffeuring, the best estate car and the best luxury SUV for when tough winter conditions mean a serious 4x4 is needed.

An overall Professional Driver Car of the Year is chosen from the seven category winners. All the winners are announced at our QSi Awards dinner in November at the Brighton Metropole Hotel Brighton East Sussex.

Latest Car of the Year news

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Professional Driver Car of the Year 2023 Winners

By Professional Driver Magazine | 23 November 2023, 16:43

We invited Professional Driver readers to judge our Cars of the Year in August – now we’ve revealed the winners. Find out our six category champs and our overall 2021 Car of the Year.

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Shortlist revealed for Professional Driver Car of the Year 2023

By Mark Bursa | 26 July 2023, 08:11

With Clean Air Zones, congestion charging and increasingly eco-conscious customers, it’s now the time to think about going electric. Professional Driver’s Car of the Year judging days offer you the chance to drive more than 40 of the latest electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, so it’s a great opportunity to evaluate the cars that will…

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Professional Driver Car of the Year 2022 Winners

By Mark Bursa | 2 December 2022, 11:00

We invited Professional Driver readers to judge our Cars of the Year in August – now we’ve revealed the winners. Find out our six category champs and our overall 2021 Car of the Year.

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Provisional shortlist announced for Professional Driver Car of the Year judging days

By Mark Bursa | 21 July 2022, 08:59

Here’s our fabulous 50 – the cars we’ll have available for you to test on our Professional Driver Car of the Year judging days on August 23 and 24. We might have a couple more to add as manufacturers scramble to find stock – but there’s plenty here for you to enjoy – including a…

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