Dacia Jogger Wins Northern Group of Motoring Writers Car of the Year

Dacia’s new Jogger has sprinted past some high-class and much more expensive opposition to take the crown as the 2022 Northern Car of the Year.

The seven-seater MPV began its journey to the title by taking the class win in the family car category – beating off opposition from the likes of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer and Peugeot 308.

Northern Group members took part in an initial online vote which covered all new and significantly revised models launched over the previous 12 months. Following the online vote, a team of 13 members met up at Coniston Hall hotel near Skipton to test drive the class winners and cast their votes for the winning car.

And the bargain-basement Jogger outclassed much more expensive, top-brand models to take the overall Car of the Year title by a record-breaking margin, with all but one of our voting panel putting the Jogger in first place.

It was the first time that the Renault-owned, Romanian brand had figured in the final, six-category shortlist for the Northern Group award and, after driving the Jogger at the test day, group member Graham King summed up its achievement:

The Dacia Jogger appears ruthlessly efficient. There’s seven-adult-space, a massive boot, it has just enough power, it uses little fuel, there’s all the equipment you really need and it costs the lowest possible price. But it’s more than simply efficient: it’s a fun,
willing companion that’ll make family motoring more enjoyable.

The Car of the Year trophy – a brass miner’s lamp affectionately known as the Arthur, after one-time miner’s leader Arthur Scargill – will be presented to Dacia in due course, with the brand unable to attend the SMMT Test Day North at which the award is usually announced and presented.