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In our annual review we looked for production designs that moved the game on in their form and function, and in how clearly they articulate what a modern car is for. The uncertainty of 2024 has carried directly into 2025; sustained pressure on budgets (the China price war being exacerbated by a tariff war) means design teams - themselves shrinking - must deliver more for less, on top of which this year many brands are navigating internal change as senior design leadership turns over also.

This year we are highlighting designs that respond convincingly to these constraints; below is our list of the top five production designs debuting in 2025, compiled through our review of the Design Trend Reports we produce throughout the year, presented to the design groups of many of the world’s car brands.

As last year, we are interested to see which of these resonate most strongly. Please reply to this story with which production design from the list (break the list if you have to) you rate as the best of 2025, and ideally a line on why you chose it.

1. BMW iX3 - The first of 40 ‘Neue Klasse’ cars – dedicated EV designs that reference the original Neue Klasse BMWs from 1962 in their simple and more angular aesthetic and conjoined grille and light graphic - the exterior form subtly progresses that first seen on the iX, but is little different to the X3, and more conservative than anticipated with only the graphics a being step-ahead. But the interior and UX design are major advances, as is the underlying level of tech sophistication. iX3 is THE major benchmark car of 2025. Image © BMW.

2. Nio Firefly - A new brand and new design (with a very new face too) that takes Nio and China into the small premium EV sector which until now has been European. The Firefly has super distinct exterior and interior details - a calm but distinct theme with some lovely unique details, particularly on the UX, and a very high level of PQ. Will this very European take on ‘small but premium’ find sales success in China, and will this design gain traction in European when competing products in this segment are leveraging significant design heritage (e.g. Mini, Renault 5, Fiat 500). Image © Nio and CDR.

3. Xpeng P7 (2nd Gen) - An exemplar of state-of-the-art Chinese car design in the way it progresses the established sleek fastback sedan theme / design template, has a calm form language, and uses graphics to be distinct and signify its brand. Interior features both an 87” AR-HUD and a 15.6” tri-axis rotating central display - very much aligning too, and pushing further, Xpeng’s tech leadership derived identity. This design has a unique set of ingredients that could reset perceptions of Chinese design in Europe by leveraging its technical capabilities to redefine what it means to be a premium EV design. Image © Xpeng.

4. Renault Twingo E-Tech - Following the 4 and the 5 in being a small dedicated EV retro design, the Twingo faithfully revives the original 1992 Le Quement / Ploue design to make this the first nineties retro car design. Strong specification, low price, and design that delivers both high functional and emotive value. Together these will be the triangulate of success for this most charming and French car design.

5. Slate Truck - One of the most talked-about debuts of the year, and one of the most divisive. Slate proposes a radically simplified, low-cost electric truck, stripped back to something close to a blank canvas and placing personalisation at the centre of the offer. The question is whether this back-to-basics proposition reflects a genuine unmet need, or a romanticised idea of simplicity that works better as a statement than as a scalable product. Image © Slate.

Let us know in the comments which production design(s) you think are leading automotive design in 2025!

Top 5 production designs of 2025

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