Best cars of the decade (and the worst from the 2010s) – Top 10s | What Car?

Dieselgate, rise of the SUVs, an electric car revolution – it's been an eventful decade in the car industry.

Every year we give our Car of the Year award to the best new car on sale in that year. We’re not talking about supercars and hot hatches here, but the very best all-rounders that in their own way were automotive game-changers. The 2010s saw plenty of memorable winners and we’re going to run through them, and name the very best car of the decade. Plus we're going to tell you the very worst cars of the decade, too.

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[robking]

Peugeot 3008 2017 should have made the list of stand out cars. Such a class act!

[joaolima]

What a joke! Looks more like a VW sponsored video

[dunstanhawk]

Where’s the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio on the list!? Cracking car!

[ltougiannidis]

More like "Best Volkswagen Group" cars of the decade...You forgot to mention the Audi A8, your sponsor won't like that

[MegaSelby]

What, no Toyota’s in the best of the decade ? Was this a push for the VW brand or what?

[nimab]

None of the cars mentioned were the best in the corresponding year

[stephandolby]

Not sure I agree 100% about the Mirage, though I do see where you're coming from. My wife has a facelift 'Juro' model from 2016 with a 1.2l NA engine which is not only pretty punchy, but very good on fuel, helped by having the lowest kerb weight of any car on sale at the time. It also has a LOT of kit - metallic paint, front fog lights, heated front seats, air con, folding mirrors, keyless entry and start, stop/start, DAB radio, a very decent speaker system, voice recognition and rear parking sensors, though it needs to given its position between A and B segments (and consequently, its price, given it was about £13K). The plastics are cheap and dark, but durable, the handling was tuned a little for the facelift, and it has a 5-year warranty. To be fair, newer Mirages are slightly slower but (the manuals, at least) no worse than most of its competitors, many of which have to do with 1.0l NA engines, though the '3' trim is pretty spartan so I totally get the criticism for that. They're also rather rare though I suppose very few people buy Mitsubishi for anything other than SUVs or trucks...

[lpm]

Alpine a10 good car handles really well and good noise from the 1.8 Renault engine. And also we did a drag race it beat all its main competitors. 👊🏿👊🏿

[angrymuffinsb]

You say the Cherokee was bad, but showed the Grand Cherokee.... so which was it?

[livc]

Whatcar still owned by the Germans I see...

[rossgoodwin]

BMW G30 520d is all the car you'll ever need! Beautiful to drive, luxurious interior beautiful design - cant wait to buy on used car market in two years 😁

[bosse]

Electric cars are so uninteresting. And all the tech. Bring me back to the 70s, 80s, 90s, everything after that is boring. You're only a co-pilot these days. Computers on wheels. Pathetic. Miss the days of true driver's cars, when you where the only one in charge.

[ailrasyid]

Why so many vw product car... I think there is so many better cars in this list

[laurenhw]

Think the new Seat Ibiza should have been mentioned in the best. Fantastic all rounder.

[Friskyrunner]

How the hell did the Skoda Yeti not make the list for best cars of the decade?

[tariqalkharouf]

I have been driving the q50 s hybrid for the last 5 years & it has been a great car dispute what all reviews saying about it. Very safe a lot pf power & great fun & reliable. For a v6 engine & 364 bhp with 40 mpg avg what more do you want? Many rivals can not get you the same power & mpg even in a diesel! I am so sad they r closing down in Europe.

[TheKacper]

I almost threw up when I saw the A3 with halogen headlights.

[packroyliao]

I honestly disagree with most of the cars on this list, even as an Audi owner, like come on, the Rapide??? Just look at it, i don't care if it's cramped and noisy, I've never seen a 4 door car that looks that amazing

[BimmerGuyFL]

I agree on the 5-series 100%. I am the owner of a 2018 BMW 540i. I love it so much that I am ordering a 2021 540i. I've had several BMW's especially most 5-series models being the E34, E39, E60, F10, and G30. Out of all those generations, I believe the G30 is the best 5-series ever. Sure it doesn't have the steering feel of an E39. However, it does drive a lot like a modern E39. No other 5-series after the E39, that being the E60 and the F10, have come as close to replicating the refinement and balance of steering, ride, handling, solidness, and quietness that made the E39 so special, and the G30 certainly provides all of that and much more.

[rafiulhaque]

honestly there have been so many advancement in car tech in the last 10 years that it is at times hard to keep up. But i do say that the various Korean manufactures like Kia and Hyundai have really started to step up to the plate. Alfa Romeo are doing bits with the gulia and stelivio. Some though have left a lot to be desired like ford with safety and reliability of certain models and VW with all the diselgate stuff. And if you look up in the higher spectrum of the market we cannot forget the LFA. Though i fell like the big hitters like BMW are tacking step back in design but i suppose you do what you must to cater to new bigger markets like the far east. in the higher echelons of the market we are seeing a strong surge in continuation and homage series. peugeot have actually made a decent looking car or two. Same goes for some of the other PSA group.