OneShift Car Of The Year 2025 - The Overall Winners

After much deliberation, we present to you our Car Of The Year 2025 Overall Winners

Azfar Hashim

03 Dec 2025

It is official: We are in the EV era, and you hardly need to think twice about that statement.

You see them everywhere on the roads, and their presence is equally strong here at the 2025 edition of OneShift’s Car Of The Year. 60% of our winners are EVs, with 25% being ICE models and the remaining 15% hybrids. But is this the peak of the EV era? That is harder to pin down.

Listing the contenders was challenging, and deliberating who stayed and who didn’t was even tougher; but, it had to be done. While we revealed our category winners last week, it is now time to present the – cue drum roll – Overall Winners.

Car Of The Year 2025 Overall Winner and EV Of The Year –
BYD SEALION 7 Performance

When the BYD SEALION 7 was first revealed at this year’s Singapore Motorshow, we had an inkling it would be a chart-topper. Yes, a price tag north of $200k for a Chinese EV SUV sounds mind-boggling, but it has all the right ingredients to win hearts (and pockets). First, an exterior that is stylish with distinctly European cues. Second, a cabin that is spacious, practical and impeccably put together. Third, it is offered in two initial variants – Premium and Performance – broadening its appeal; and the Cat A variant that arrived in later 2025.

It is the SEALION 7 Performance, however, that truly won us over. Beneath its handsome sheet metal lies performance capable of unsettling many hot hatches and performance cars: 390 kW (523 bhp), 690 Nm of torque and a 0–100 km/h time of 4.5 seconds. Numbers that, quite rightly, scream performance.

TL;DR: The SEALION 7 is handsome, practical, solidly built, impressively quick when needed and offers a respectable range – all while delivering standout value. These are the reasons it takes home two major titles at this year’s OneShift Car Of The Year.

Overall Hybrid Of The Year –
BYD SEALION 6 DM-i

The BYD SEALION 6 DM-i delivers a compelling blend of real-world usability, long-range practicality, and family-friendly versatility; a rare trifecta in today’s plug-in hybrid segment. As the first PHEV from BYD in Singapore, the SEALION 6 strides confidently into a space between compact and full-size SUVs.

At its heart lies BYD’s DM-i ‘Super Hybrid’ system: a 1.5-litre Xiaoyun petrol engine working in concert with an 18.3 kWh blade battery and electric motor. On a full charge, it yields an EV-only WLTP range of about 80 km – enough for most daily commutes – and with the petrol generator topping up the battery when needed, the combined driving range sails close to 1,100 km. That means owners get EV-quiet city driving and the confidence to embark on longer journeys without range-anxiety.

The driving experience remains composed: Regen braking is smooth and natural, steering feels light at low speeds but firms up with velocity, and albeit prioritising comfort over sporty dynamics, the car corners predictably and tolerably. Add in a comprehensive suite of safety features and ADAS – a standout for a vehicle in its price and class – and what emerges is a car that blends hybrid sensibility, everyday practicality and generous safety.

TL;DR: The SEALION 6 DM-i hits a unique sweet-spot delivering electric-quiet city commuting, hybrid-backed long-distance freedom, and family-minded practicality, without extravagant size or excessive cost. For many buyers – families, urban dwellers, hybrid-cautious drivers – it represents the best of both worlds. That clarity of purpose, coupled with execution, makes it a worthy champion for Overall Hybrid Of The Year.

Overall ICE Car Of The Year –
BMW X3 M50

The X3 M50 delivers a rare balance of brute performance and everyday usability, forging a compelling case for the Overall ICE Car Of The Year. At its core lies BMW’s 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six (B58), bolstered by a mild-hybrid system, yielding a potent 398 hp and 580 Nm. That translates to 0–100 km/h in about 4.6 seconds; faster than you can sneeze.

What truly defines the X3 M50, though, is how that performance is delivered. The engine revs cleanly and willingly, and when stretched, offers a memorable engine hum and exhaust note – the kind that makes you glance down gleefully at the tachometer more often than you probably should.

Yet for all its athleticism, the X3 M50 remains reassuringly composed for a family SUV. Its adaptive M suspension allows you to dial between comfort and sport – on the softest setting, even the 21-inch wheels ride agreeably. Inside, the cabin carries the feel of a modern premium SUV: Supportive seats, a suitably planted driving position.

TL;DR: The X3 M50 fuses the soul of a performance machine with the sensibility of a family SUV. It doesn’t try to be the roughest, most hardcore M car. Instead, it delivers a cohesive package: Thrilling when called upon, refined when required. That combination – performance, poise, practicality – is precisely what makes it a standout ICE Overall winner.

=====