Renault 5 E-Tech electric and Alpine A290 have been named Car of the Year 2025. The result was announced at a ceremony organised by the European Car of the Year jury at the Brussels Motor Show in Belgium on Friday.
This award highlights the relevance of the electrification strategy and the quality of the new Renault and Alpine ranges, developed as part of the Renaulution plan. Unique in Europe, the AmpR Small platform allows both vehicles to deliver a high level of customer value, while leaving each brand free to express its own positioning in terms of design, development, onboard technologies and customer experience.
In the first round of voting last November, Renault 5 E-Tech electric, entered jointly with Alpine A290, was named as one of seven finalists, alongside Alfa Romeo Junior, Citroën ë-C3/C3, Cupra Terramar, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Inster and Kia EV3.
The winning duo was chosen by 60 motoring journalists from 23 countries. Renault 5 E-Tech electric and Alpine A290 took first place with 353 points. Renault’s new electric pop icon becomes the eighth brand vehicle to win the prestigious Car of the Year award after Renault 16 (1966), Renault 9 (1982), Clio I (1991), Scenic (1997), Megane (2003), Clio III (2006) and Scenic E-Tech electric (2024).
“Within the Group, the Renault brand and Ampere, we all feel immensely proud to have taken the prestigious Car of the Year award for the second year running. Renault 5 E-Tech electric is a real game changer in Europe. It makes electric vehicles desirable as well as inspiring an emotional response. At the same time, it was designed to deliver added value for our customers. If there’s one car with the potential to transform the electric market, it’s this one.”
Fabrice Cambolive, CEO Renault brand
In 2024, Renault reinvented R5 with an all-electric version, designed to increase the pace of electrification on the European market. Renault 5 E-Tech electric makes electric mobility desirable with its captivating design and the joyful, intuitive experience delivered by its electric and digital technologies.
The entry-level model will be available this year from €25,000, before government incentives, in countries where these aids are applicable. Built locally in northern France within the Ampere ElectriCity pole as part of a sustainable production system, the Car of the Year 2025 has all the qualities necessary to establish itself as the benchmark city car for the energy transition.
The Alpine A290 marks a decisive step for the A-arrow brand, inaugurating in style Alpine’s 100% electric Dream Garage, presented in 2021 as part of Luca de Meo’s Renaulution plan. The A390 sports fastback and the new A110 will soon join it.
This sporty city car, a symbol of modernity and performance, opens the way to a broader customer base while resurrecting the category of hot hatches, appreciated for their driving pleasure. The first of Alpine’s 100% electric era, the A290 is also the brand’s first vehicle to win Car of the Year.
The Alpine A290 reinvents and modernises the hot hatch category, the small sports cars that have left their mark on automotive history through their agility and dynamism. With the A290, Alpine is reintroducing this category with a modern twist and cutting-edge technology while delivering Alpine’s characteristic driving pleasure.
Boosted by the Alpine DNA, the A290 packs all the sensations of a genuine new-generation sports car into a compact car. Developed on the AmpR Small platform shared with Renault 5 E-Tech electric, the A290 is compact, agile and offers high performance easy to harness while guaranteeing comfortable day-to-day use.
With its sharp design, first-rate technical features, ultra-complete connectivity and numerous possibilities for personalising driving, the A290 is a new-generation Alpine designed to embrace the electric era.
The A290 is produced in France at the Manufacture de Douai, part of ElectriCity, and its electric motor, available in 180 and 220 bhp versions, comes from the Cléon site.
