Nissan’s new generation Qashqai won the Car of the Year honours at the What Car Awards, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

The Sunderland-built car, which goes on sale this month, also won the Best Small SUV award, with Nissan’s X-Trail also picking up the Reader Award.

BMW received two trophies; the 435i won the Best Coupe award while the new i3 EV claimed the title for Best Green Car. Audi also scooped up two awards with the A3 saloon winning Best executive Car and the A3 Cabriolet won the Best Open Top Car.

The What Car? awards, sponsored by Warranty Direct, can act as a valuable sales boost for dealers with last year’s overall winner, Audi’s A3, receiving 125% more searches on Whatcar.com during the four weeks after the event.

What Car? Awards 2014

Car of the Year: Nissan Qashqai

City car: Hyundai i10

Small car: Ford Fiesta

Family car: Skoda Octavia

Estate car: Volkswagen Golf Estate

Sports car: Porsche Boxster

MPV:  Citroën Grand C4  Picasso

Coupé:  BMW 435i M Sport

Hot hatch: Ford Fiesta ST-2 Small

SUV: Nissan Qashqai

Large SUV: Range Rover Sport

Executive car: Audi A3 Saloon

Open-top car:  Audi A3 Cabriolet

Luxury car: Mercedes-Benz S350 Bluetec

Green car: BMW i3

Reader Award: Nissan X-Trail