With no official AA end of year motoring award this year, our motoring reviewers, Jack Biddle and Andrew Bayliss have come up with their own informal list of favourites for 2009.
Based on the cars we've either attended new car launches for or driven as part of our regular press programme, we've debated the pro's and con's of 2009's new market entrants, and come up with our own personal picks for the year.
Best Small Car - Ford Fiesta
A toughly fought category as several good small cars were tested, but the standouts were Ford Fiesta and VW Polo. The Polo is a great driver's car but the Fiesta drives extremely well too, has much more equipment and is a couple of grand cheaper.
A stylish looker too, so the Fiesta gets the nod.
Best Compact Car - Volkswagen Golf VI
Another fiercely contested category, with new product hitting the market from Mazda, Kia and Holden. Mazda3 was also a standout with high levels of equipment, great styling and it's a decent performer. However, the Volkswagen Golf's brilliant driving dynamics, with its outstanding DSG transmission is hard to overlook. It's relatively well priced for a solid and well built Euro too.
Best Medium Car - Nissan Qashqai
The Qshqai takes it away here on numerous fronts.
No fancy technology or gadgets and gizmo's, but it's roomy and a pleasure to drive.
Nissan have thought outside the square and almost reinvented the segment with the high seating position, ease of entry and exit, good visibility making it perfect for the target market.
Best Large Car - Subaru Legacy/Outback
Whether it's medium or large is open to some debate, but ultimately as a vast majority of Legacy and Outback buyers opt for the wagon, it really does the job of a large car.
As always, Subaru's AWD setup makes for great road holding and the great chassis gets even better with the latest incarnation.
Best Luxury Car - Mercedes-Benz E500 Coupe
Full of cutting edge technology and safety features, the E500 Coupe has all the ingredients that define a luxury car. It is a surprisingly agile handler and a mean performer, with the 5.5 litre V8 powerplant punching out all the power you need. Stylish AMG enhancements included as standard add a sporty look to the imposing, luxury package. And if you prefer, there's a 4 door sedan version too.
Best Small SUV - Audi Q5
Pricey, but then quality always comes at a cost. The Q5's two diesel engines are both outstanding in their sectors and the Q5 drives and handles more like a sports car than an SUV.
New arrivals and new engines from Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia proved highly competitive too.
Best Large SUV - Toyota Prado
The benchmark in its sector for many years, the 4th generation Prado lifts the bar even further.
An outstanding performer both on and off the road, it's practical, spacious, well put together and well equipped.
Trusty Toyota reliability and strong as an ox diesel engine.
Best Sports Car - BMW Z4 sDrive35i
The new Z4 offers everything a sports car should; power, style and handling, but also provides a fair amount of practicality with its retractable hardtop that stows away neater than any other car with this feature. With its long bonnet the occupants sit well back in the car, offering a perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Other hot contenders were the Nissan 370Z (too noisy) and VW Scirocco (excellent, but it's really just a Golf in fancy clothing).
Best Ute - Ford Ranger
It's hard to pick a ute because there's nothing much between them all. Ford offers a wide range of Rangers so there's one for every purpose, whether you need 2WD, 4WD, single cab, double cab etc.
But where the Ranger really pips the other mainstream utes to the post is in the pricing, which is a little sharper than some of its competitors, and it's a good, tough workhorse.
Best Green Car - MINI Cooper D
This may be a surprise to some, especially as we've also had the excellent and much improved new Toyota Prius this year.
However, styling has never been the Prius's strong suit, But the MINI, with its stop/start technology, frugal fuel usage and low emissions is a stylish looker.
It's also a very capable drivers car.
Overall winner - Ford Fiesta
All things considered, the Fiesta offers the best all round package, at a sharp price, with high levels of equipment and stylish, modern good looks.
For a car that's priced in the mid twenties, it punches way above its weight, with technology usually seen only in larger, more expensive cars. With world leading global platform manufacturing methods, this is the type of car for the future.