This year I have driven hundreds of different cars all over the world and written about many of them for cap hpi extras, so as 2015 comes to a close let’s take a look at which cars were the most memorable and which have been forgotten…

Now the thing with cars, vans, or anything automobile is the simple fact that you get in them, go somewhere, do what you have to do, get back in them, and go home. This is repeated time after time, day after day, no matter what sort of vehicle it is, you generally do the same thing, and regardless of whether it is a people carrier, a van, a two-seat supercar, a slow economical low C02 car, they all get you there and get you back… hopefully.

In 2015 we have driven a wide variety of motors, some very expensive such as the fantastic Audi R8 V10 Plus in the South of France. A show of strength and technology, a pleasure to drive. The Audi R8 V10 looks great and drives even better. Another from the expensive range, ‘The name’s Ward, Martin Ward’, that’s right it was  my turn to drive the Aston Martin Vanquish which certainly turned heads, not just by its looks, but by the roar of the engine and the exhaust.

Talking of noise, the Jaguar F Type R was another real neighbour waking car - just press the start button and wait for the curtains to start twitching. The Bentley GTC was more of one for pleasing the neighbours, it was a lot more sedate and slightly quieter!

At the other end of the scale, there have been some cars that are not expensive, but turned out to be great little cars such as the all-new Honda Jazz which was much better than expected. Next, ‘Was it Viva Las Vegas or Viva Las Luton?’… The Vauxhall Viva was another great car, it looks such good value, however I have seen hardly any on the road, which I find surprising.

People Carriers and SUV’s have been in abundance this year, as the market demands and preferences from customers are turning to this sort of vehicle in their droves. The Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90 will be going head to head in the large SUV sector, they’re both cracking vehicles and the quality in both is fantastic. The KIA Sorento is also a great 7-seater, better equipped, more refined and more stylish, but who would have thought that a KIA could be priced at over £40,000? Whatever next!

The smaller SUV’s such as Hyundai Tucson, Fiat 500X, VW Touran, JEEP Renegade, Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V and Suzuki Vitara all made their debuts this year. Who would have thought that the chic Fiat 500 could make it in the Crossover sector! In particular I love the Tucson, what a great looking car.

The poor old British public certainly have plenty of choice now, but picking the right one has got much more difficult. The amount on offer keeps on rising, along with quality and good value for money.

We have also seen some traditional saloons and hatches appear this year, some are replacements and others are all-new for some manufacturers, such as the Jaguar XE (you can’t say it’s a replacement for the X-Type).

The new ‘Baby’ Jag looks good and is well built, it should do well for the British Motor Industry. Also made in Britain is the Infiniti Q30, (made in Sunderland) this C-Sector hatch looks very different to anything else in the sector and is really a whole new beginning for the company, it should attract customers to a brand that has never ever considered one of these Japanese cars before.

The Q30 drives well, is well put together and looks good value, unfortunately a low amount of dealers may be its stumbling block. The new Vauxhall Astra, also British Built is a huge step forward, it should do well in the fleet sector and make a fine used car.

From the Volkswagen Group the all-new VW Passat and Audi A4 made their appearances, both saloons and estates have very much improved in every department. The A4, as Shirley Bassey used to say, ‘Is so good looking, so refined’. The Skoda Fabia looks much nicer and is a pleasure to drive. From the same stable the Skoda Superb, is as the name suggests, ‘Superb’. The previous superb car was great, the new one is greater – if that is a proper word, Superb all-round and so much space in the rear – it is almost of limousine proportions. 

We drove two, two-seat convertibles in two very different locations. The Audi TT in Majorca, the Mazda MX-5 in Halifax and both of these places had something in common… It threw it down in Spain and in Yorkshire, but both cars proved extensively that no matter what the weather threw at those soft-tops, neither let a drop of water into the cabin.

There were a couple of cars we drove and we thought as we got out of them, when and if will we see another, these were the Subaru Levorg and the huge people carrier, the SsangYong Turismo, as they are a bit niche.

It was back to Majorca to drive the Nissan NP300 Navara Pick-up. The Nissan NP300 Navara, it’s more car-like, than truck-like. A great vehicle to drive and really high quality, it performed fantastic on all surfaces, both on and off road – a great truck, or is it a great car?

Next it was down to Malaga to drive a Trio of Golf estates: the GTD, Alltrack and the exceptionally quick R. Out of the three, the Alltrack with its higher stance, more off-road look took my fancy.

Then it was to Northern Spain to drive the car with the odd name – The Renault Kadjar – ‘a what’ I remember many people saying at the time – A ‘Kadjar’ I said. We stayed in the middle of nowhere, just surrounded by baron land in some very odd accommodation, with just lizards and critters as company. Renault were not daft however, they had picked this place so we could try this car on some very uncomfortable surfaces and on some very unstable terrain. Did it pay off for the French company, you bet it did – the Kadjar performed perfectly on all surfaces and proved just how good it was, it is not a bad looking car either. 

Now moving on to electric vehicles, we drove two Plug-In Hybrid Electric vehicles from VW Group – the Audi A3 e-tron and Volkswagen Passat GTE. Both cars have around a 30 mile range on a full charge of electric and this is coupled to a petrol engine, so the best of both worlds really. Both electric additions are a bit on the expensive side, but the technology and systems work perfectly, and with low C02. The plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicles from VW group make good sense for company car drivers, even if they never charge it up, which I’m sure will happen…

The all-new Jaguar XF is a great looking four-door saloon, the exterior and interior design is a leap forward over the previous car. But this Jag is up against some stiff competition, especially from Germany.

Talking of Germany, I drove the new Mercedes Benz C-Class for the first time earlier in the year, if an award went to the most improved car over the previous car, then the C-Class has to be a serious contender.

In the summer I had to don my straw hat and white coat, turn my hand to selling ice-cream from a Ford Transit. I learned so much that day about ‘hawking’ the cold stuff around the streets of Huddersfield.

We also had the chance to drive the ‘Back-to-the Future’ DeLorean, and did manage to go back to 1985, where my clothes went back in history, there were many Austin Metro’s and Ford Escorts on the roads, but miraculously I managed to get the car up to 80mph and it came back into the future.

All of these cars just proved that no matter how quick, how much how fuel efficient, or not they are. You get in them, go somewhere and go back home again – Including the DeLorean

Also this year, as part of the CAP Consulting Team, we saw quite a few cars that are up to four years away, although still in the design and making stage. More about these as and when we can talk about them – Some interesting cars and technology around the corner. Looking forward to sharing them with you.

Happy New Year! Here’s to 2016!

Martin Ward, Manufacturer Relationship Manager