A month ago, I asked...

A month ago, I asked if the world could only have one car, which should it be? My answer to that was the Kia Cee’d, as it’s well built, cheap and can do pretty much everything. Thankfully, we have lots of choice. And while there are plenty of different classes of vehicle available, I’m reluctant to nominate one model that I consider to be better than the rest over the last 12 months.

In the past 12 months the supermini market has seen more new models and advances in value for money than any other sector

In fact, I refuse to do that. For example, how can you compare an Audi R8 with a VW Fox? It’s as meaningless as putting an all-you-can-eat buffet up against a fine dining establishment in a Restaurant of the Year contest. I hope I’m being more productive by telling you that the Fox has emerged as the best city machine within the last 12 months and the Audi R8 has become the ultimate supercar. In between these two at opposite ends of the scale are a crop of other motors which I honestly believe to be, all things considered, best in class.

Working from the top down, my luxury car champ is not an Audi, BMW, Jaguar or Mercedes but – wait for it – a Citroen. The firm’s C6 looks classier than anything else in the sector and is competitively priced, well built, comfortable, holds its value superbly (astonishing, that) and is highly exclusive, thanks to deliberately low production levels.

Hardcore 4x4 of 2007 has to be the Land Rover Defender, which helped keep me alive in some of the most treacherous conditions I’ve ever

experienced – in the remote North Arctic Circle in February, at a driver and vehicle-unfriendly 4am. I reckon the best soft-roader by a long way is the chunky and surprisingly capable Jeep Patriot, the spiritual successor to the original, boxy Cherokee. And it starts from just чЈ16,000. Predictably and reluctantly, I have to go with the flow and concur that the Ford S-MAX is still the best MPV. But that’s as much to do with lack of competition from Ford’s rivals as anything else.

For similar reasons, my estate car, coupé and convertible winners are the same as last year: the diesel Chrysler 300C Touring, Audi TT and Mazda MX-5. Yes, I know that there are other wagons, coupés and rag-tops that can wipe the floor with the comparatively modest cars I’ve chosen above. But at least they are in the real world. ‘Rival’ cars that are superior on paper but cost six figure sums are irrelevant to all but a minuscule band of motorists.

The new-look Ford Focus could have been the family hatch of 2007 if it had gone on sale by the end of last year, but it didn’t. The Focus’s loss is Kia’s gain, because the Cee’d nicks it, not least for its industry-leading seven-year warranty.

I’ve saved the best until last. In the past 12 months, the supermini market has seen more progress, new models, fierce competition and advances in value for money and desirability than any other sector. This isn’t a cop-out on my part, but there are several superminis of the year – the Mazda 2 for being so pretty and well built, the VW Polo Bluemotion since it’s a fuel consumption and environmental world beater, the Skoda Fabia for its honesty and the Vauxhall Corsa for looking and feeling like a family hatch, but costing no more than an upmarket mountain bike.

And no, I’m not ignoring the Fiat 500. It’s more a case of the 500 ignoring UK showrooms. Since it’s not on sale here and won’t be for months, it can’t possibly be a contender – yet. But it’s well on course to take my comeback car, supermini, bargain and most desirable awards of 2008.