The CDN Christmas cracker: best bits of 2025

Trying to keep pace with car design has never been a desk-bound exercise. It means crossing continents, catching secret ideas in corridors and listening as designers unpack their biggest thinking in public. Between studio visits, motor shows, launches and a steady circuit of design gatherings, the year quickly became a blur.

Yet 2025 raised the tempo even further. Senior figures changed seats, new concepts challenged long-held assumptions and several reveals sent shockwaves well beyond the design community. To make sense of it all, the Car Design News editorial team and contributors have pulled together the moments that mattered most, along with a few signals of what may lie ahead. As the year draws to a close, all of us at CDN wish you a peaceful festive break.

James McLachlan

Favourite moments of 2025: 

As always, there is a collection that jostle for attention in my mind, with pole position subject to change depending on my mood. If I had to pick one, it would be Audi-related: either the launch of the Concept C in Milan (the city I know and love best outside of London) which took place in a beautiful piazza with many beautiful people. 

Hopes for 2026:

For CEOs to give designers the freedom to be creative. While the temptation to play it safe in uncertain times is understandable, now is not the time for leaders to keep their heads down and hope the storm will pass. Now is the time for courage.  

Freddie Holmes 

Favourite moments of 2025:

The nature of this job involves plenty of travel. Not every trip is glamorous: early starts and late finishes that prevent any sightseeing is common. It was refreshing then to drive home at my own leisure following the launch of the Hyundai Concept 3 a few months back. My chariot of choice was the Ioniq 9 and the route took me on a very pleasant route through France and back into rural Berkshire. A two-day drive might seem like hell to some, but it was a real antidote to the usual itinerary. To any PR managers reading this, I am happy to take on the role of courier for upcoming trips. Within reason. Favourite car? Either the Bovensiepen Zagato due to the Alpina romantic in me, or the very different Nissan Patrol restomod by UAE studio Peec.

Hopes for 2026:

“Can everyone just slow down a bit. What’s the rush?” Such was my Christmas wish for 2024 after a year that seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye. Hmm. That didn’t quite work out.

Car brands seem to be more urgent than ever, slashing production cycles and constantly chasing the next new thing. A generalist statement of course – some buck the trend – but to paraphrase Bernie Sanders: I am once again asking for everyone to slow down and let designs resonate.

Beyond that, I hope to see plenty of fresh material at the Brussels motor show in January, which could feasibly take the place of Geneva should it wish to do so. Oh, and if that vacuum leak on my old Toyota were to reveal itself sometime soon that would be super.

Lucy Abbott

Favourite moments of 2025: 

The first car launch I attended was incidentally my favourite – the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. I’m a big fan of retro aesthetics and being able to see the Turbo 2, Renault 5 Coupe and Maxi Turbo that inspired this mini supercar was really special. The interior struck a perfect balance too, with old school cues, like round dials and vintage-inspired graphics, combined perfectly modern day technology.

 Hopes for 2026: 

I’d love to see more car launches that truly shake up the industry, divide opinions and stretch the limit of what a vehicle can look like. This isn’t limited to just exterior design, I hope designers feel confident to experiment with unconventional colour, materials and textures that are expressive and full of emotion.

Guy Bird

 Favourite moments of 2025:

Visiting Hiroshima in Spring to have a serious sit-down with the somewhat mysterious Mazda design boss Masashi Nakayama at the firm’s HQ, museum and design centre was a real highlight of 2025. Chatting with Nakayama as we walked past classic Cosmos, RX-7s, early MX-5s and the unbelievable gull-winged kei car-informed AZ-1 was a treat, as was strolling through the city itself with cherry blossom out and sun shining. Despite – or perhaps because of – the city’s dark past I sensed a deep humanity in the people I met to live simply and responsibly that was inspiring and I think continues to influence Nakayama and the independent Japanese carmaker into creating stunning but considered vehicles like the 2023 Iconic SP and 2025 Vision X-Coupe.

Hopes for 2026:

For more historic firms to re-find their mojo – and reason for being – in 2026 like Audi, Cadillac and Honda did in 2025. Meanwhile I’d like newcomer brands to continue to challenge the status quo in ways that don’t simply copy what’s already been at quicker speeds and lower prices, but truly develop into meaningful marques in their own right by harnessing the undoubted power – and imagination – of their designers.

Karl Smith

Favourite moments of 2025:

As we close the year on 2025, three events stand out in my mind as pointing the way forward for Car Design News, the automotive design profession, and (hopefully) for emerging customers looking to buy a fun and functional car- that's-not-quite-a-car.

Firstly, Car Design News welcomed our assistant editor, Lucy Abbot this year, she has greatly expanded our reach and the quality of our design coverage. And she is a joy to work with! 

Secondly, our series on artificial intelligence in the design process was enlightening and thought provoking. Interesting to note that AI will require more human intelligence and talent as part of the design process for these technologies to be effective. Abdicating our role to these technologies is a recipe for disaster. Making them our partner is the way forward. Last, and certainly not least is the Citroën ELO, a delightful MPV that puts the fun back in functional. Like the Citroën Olli of a couple of years back, it breaks a lot design rules in all the right ways. And that mad orange colour way only reinforces its brilliant weirdness. 

 Hopes for 2026:

For 2026, in America at least, the electric car will fall on some hard times. Compelling design(and better batteries and chargers) can bring a new era for the electric car and truck, but they must be desirable and affordable to own. 

Mark Smyth

 Favourite moments of 2025:

One of my highlights this year has to be my first visit to a Bugatti design studio, the brand’s new one in Berlin. It’s a fabulous location, steeped in Berlin history and a truly inspiring space for Frank Heyl and his team to create exciting future models. Admittedly, the Brouillard didn’t quite meet my expectations as a coachbuilt product of the new Solitaire programme, but I imagine there are some truly unique design ideas being formed within those historic walls.

The biggest highlight though was a few hours spent at the Guangzhou International Auto Show. I didn’t get to see everything, but I saw enough to get insight into how design language is moving to the forefront for many brands. It’s great to see that there’s a move away from the generic styling of recent years to designs that are refreshing and exciting. That’s not only true of homegrown brands like Nio and Xpeng either, I found myself wondering whether new Chinese models from Audi, Volkswagen and others could replace decades of model names in Europe.

 Hopes for 2026:

Can everyone please stay in one place? There seems to have been an unusually large number of designers moving around in 2025, at all levels of the design process. In 2026 it would be nice if everyone could stay where they are long enough to see their designs reach the market. What’s that, Gorden Wagener is leaving? Perhaps that will turn the depressed look on the latest Mercedes models into a smile.

Oh and I know I often say this, but estates, please can we have more estates. I recently spent some time with the latest Volkswagen ID 7 Tourer and while it does feel unnecessarily large, it is brilliant at doing everything an SUV can do most of the time and what designer doesn’t love creating a stylish estate car.