Your evaluation of our 2018 Car of the Year, the Volvo XC40 family SUV

This fashionable SUV is our Car of the Year. Will it become a family favourite, too?

FOR THE FIRST time, the What Car? Car of the Year is a Volvo. And what a Volvo it is.

The new XC40 family SUV is boldly styled, has a roomy, comfy and high-quality interior and is great to drive, with powerful, efficient engines and a soft ride. Plus, it comes with all the latest safety standards and tech. What more could you ask of a family car?

Oh yes, value – and it doesn’t disappoint there, either. You can have an XC40 for as little as £27,800, and in our recommended D4 R-design specification, it’s cheaper than many of its key rivals, including the BMW X1.

The XC40 offers diesel and petrol engines with an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive. Models with front-wheel drive, manual gearboxes and less powerful engines will be available later this year, as will hybrid versions.

We invited a group of readers to Volvo’s UK offices to see if they’re as impressed as we are.

Volvo has avoided ‘Russian Doll’ design with the XC40; it doesn’t look like a smaller version of the XC60 or XC90