The best SUV winners from Round 1 face off for the title of Overall Best SUV.
How Does ACOTY Define This Class?
What defines an SUV or crossover nowadays? That’s a question even some brands are struggling with, but we don’t judge, and we have some fine winner specimens from Round 1, so it’s time to crown one of them the Overall Best SUV.
Meet The Contenders
BMW X2
The BMW X2 beat the Volkswagen Tiguan, Volkswagen T-Cross, Alfa Romeo Tonale and Lexus LBX to be crowned Best Cat A SUV.
The judging panel was impressed with its efficiency and how it felt like the complete package as an SUV.
Lexus LBX
The Lexus LBX fought well against the Hyundai Kona Hybrid, Alfa Romeo Tonale, Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Avante and won Best Cat A Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid.
We felt that the LBX offered the most complete value proposition in its class and that the polished tech implementation made it that much more desirable.
Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai Santa Fe beat out the Kia Sorento Hybrid, Honda CR-V and Subaru Crosstrek to win Best Cat B SUV.
This stylish SUV comes with loads of tech and space for seven. What more could you love?
Range Rover PHEV
The Range Rover PHEV locked horns and won against the Lamborghini Urus S to win Best Luxury SUV.
If sublime pantomime is what you’re craving, you’ll get tons of love in the Range Rover. It’s simply the kings of the roads.
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne battled hard against the Range Rover Velar, Land Rover Defender, Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, BMW X5, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Alfa Romeo Stelvio to win Best Premium SUV.
The Cayenne was the pioneer, and it still leads the SUV charge after all of the years.
So who won?
What a range of cars we have. For transparency sake, price isn’t the only factor in deciding an eventual winner. The winner has to be desirable, a good all-rounder, and above all else, worth its market value.
Where the points tally in Round 1 was the final determinant of each category’s winner, here in Round 2, points are taken into consideration but are not the final arbiter of victory.
AutoApp Car Of The Year Overall Best SUV
Hyundai Santa Fe
| Vehicle | Points Tally |
| BMW X2 | 392 |
| Lexus LBX | 383 |
| Hyundai Santa Fe | 398 |
| Range Rover PHEV | 345 |
| Porsche Cayenne | 322 |
And our overall winner is the Hyundai Santa Fe! Admit it, you were as impressed at its design, and that it’s packed to the brim with excellent safety features, useful tech and some luxury touches at its price point makes the Santa Fe TurboHybrid a true value proposition.
More on the scoring categories used to derive points in Round 1 here.
Congratulations to the Hyundai Santa Fe for winning the AutoApp Car of the Year 2025 Overall Best SUV!
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