Best crossover cars to buy 2025
Blending small-car costs with a little SUV muscle, these are the best crossovers on the market
Take a look at Britain’s best-selling cars and you’ll notice that certain types of car dominate the list. On the one hand you have traditional hatchbacks that are compact, practical and affordable; on the other you have SUVs – big, spacious and rugged. The best crossover cars, however, take the best qualities of hatchbacks and SUVs and blend them together.
What exactly is a crossover car? That’s a good question. Back in the days when most SUVs paid at least some attention to off-road driving, a crossover was generally a car with SUV styling cues designed primarily to be driven on the road.
Today, SUVs have gone mainstream. Most are driven almost exclusively on Tarmac and off-road ability is a distant afterthought in the engineering process for many. So where does that leave the humble crossover? Well, opinions will vary, and there’s a variety of different cars that could be classed as crossovers on today’s market. But for the purposes of this guide, we’ve tried to pull together a useful cross-section of the best available options.
To start with, there are conventional compact cars with a light SUV makeover that includes features such as roof-rails, extended wheelarches and body cladding. Then, there are cars designed from the outset to blend design elements from both superminis and SUVs. In all cases, and as the name suggests, crossovers tend to defy classification, but their mix of qualities can be a perfect fit for those seeking a car that combines a little SUV style and higher-riding practicality with low running costs and a tidy, road-focused driving experience.
Our expert road testers have driven every crossover that you can buy in the UK, and they’ve rounded up the very best buys below.
The best crossover cars to buy now
These are the best crossovers that you can buy right now
1. Skoda Kamiq
- Prices from £24,800
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
Skoda has long held a reputation for being a purveyor of fine family cars, and sitting among the Czech brand’s estate cars and SUVs is the Kamiq. Look at it from the outside and this crossover seems quite small, but it’s been cleverly engineered to offer maximum practicality on the inside. There’s plenty of room for five passengers, while the 400-litre boot is designed to be easy to load. The car is very well put-together, too, and even offers plenty of Skoda’s famed ‘Simply Clever’ touches.
Power comes from either a 1.0-litre or 1.5-litre petrol engine, and both of these are pretty frugal with official WLTP combined economy figures of up around 52 and 49mpg, respectively.
2. Smart #3
- Prices from £34,000
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
Some people may find it a bit ironic that one of the larger cars on this list wears a badge that’s synonymous with tiny city cars, but the Smart #3 is the second full-sized model to come since the brand’s dramatic relaunch. This fully electric crossover can cover over 200 miles on a single charge, and it certainly stands out with its smooth and curvaceous styling.
While most of the cars on this list place more focus on being sensible, performance enthusiasts are catered for here by a full-fat Brabus variant. It’ll set you back over £45,000 but this mad electric car will hurl you from 0-62mph in just 3.7 seconds, thanks to its 422bhp dual-motor powertrain.
3. Dacia Sandero Stepway
- Best value for money
- Prices from £15,700
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
It’s not quite a fully fledged 4x4 like the Dacia Duster, but the Dacia Sandero Stepway offers a similarly rugged look to its SUV sibling. Being based on the underpinnings of the standard Sandero (which are, in turn, those of the previous generation Renault Clio) means the Sandero Stepway is rather good to drive, although we did find ourselves wanting a bit more power at times.
If you can live with driving at a more leisurely pace, there’s a decent amount of passenger and boot space on offer, so the Sandero Stepway does make sense as a family car. It’s also one of the cheapest brand-new cars that you can currently buy in the UK. One thing that might hold you back, though, is its rather poor two-star Euro NCAP safety rating.
Latest Dacia Sandero Stepway deals
4. Honda Jazz Crosstar
- Best for practicality
- Prices from £29,700
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
The regular Honda Jazz offers impressive efficiency and agile handling, but it isn’t exactly the most exciting supermini to look at. This is where the Jazz Crosstar steps in with its jacked-up off-roader inspired styling - although it’s still very much designed to stay firmly on the Tarmac.
The Jazz Crosstar is fitted with the same 1.5-litre e:HEV hybrid powertrain as the standard car, and this returned a very respectable 55.4mpg when it faced the Dacia Sandero Stepway in our twin test. You’ll also find Honda’s useful Magic Seats in the back, which make carrying bulky items a much less daunting task than it would be in almost any other car of the Jazz’s size. If you want the added style of the Crosstar, though, you’ll need to pay over £1,000 more than for the equivalent regular model.
5. Ford Focus Active
- Best driving experience
- Prices from £31,500
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
Holding out against an increasing tide of SUVs and commercial vehicles, the Ford Focus continues to fly the flag for traditional hatchbacks in the company’s range. If you can’t decide between a family hatch and one of the brand’s many SUVs, such as the Ford Puma or Kuga, the Focus Active represents something of a compromise.
As well as some exterior styling tweaks, the Ford Focus Active is fitted with upgraded suspension components that make it better at handling poor road surfaces and some light off-road challenges. Apart from this, though, the Active is virtually the same to drive as a regular Focus, which means the experience from behind the wheel is a pleasingly engaging one.
6. Kia XCeed
- Prices from £24,400
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
As well as the Ceed hatchback, Ceed Sportswagon and Proceed 3-door hatch, there’s a fourth member of the extensive Ceed family: the Kia XCeed. This version adds beefed-up styling and extra practicality to the Korean brand’s sensible family hatch, and with prices starting from around £24,500, it’s pretty affordable, too.
Inside, the XCeed’s interior design is starting to feel a bit dated compared with the brand’s latest arrivals, such as the Niro, but all the essential kit is thrown in as standard. This includes an infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cruise control and a parking camera. If you’re thinking of using the XCeed as a family car, there’s a decent amount of space for four passengers, as well as a 426-litre boot — 31 litres more than in the regular Ceed.
7. Subaru Crosstrek
- Prices from £35,000
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
Like many of the cars on this list, the Subaru Crosstrek finds itself hovering between being a hatchback and a fully fledged SUV. What can’t be doubted, though, is this car’s off-road capability. Along with its robust appearance, the Crosstrek comes with four-wheel drive and a raised ride height, so it’s surprisingly capable in more rural and challenging environments.
There’s a generous helping of standard kit thrown in, too, including Subaru’s EyeSight safety technology. The downside is that all of this equipment and capability come at quite a significant price.
Best crossover cars: prices and ratings table
| Best crossover cars ranking | Model | Prices from | Rating for efficiency, emissions & running costs (out of 5) | Overall Auto Express star rating (out of 5) |
| 1 | Skoda Kamiq | £24,800 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Smart #3 | £34,000 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| 3 | Dacia Sandero Stepway | £15,700 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| 4 | Honda Jazz Crosstar | £29,700 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Ford Focus Active | £31,500 | 4 | 4.5 |
| 6 | Kia XCeed | £24,400 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| 7 | Subaru Crosstrek | £35,000 | 3.2 | 3 |
How we choose the best crossover cars
With SUVs being all the rage in the UK, the crossover car market is something of a niche. A large number of buyers who desire a smaller car with SUV characteristics will simply opt for a fully fledged small SUV, but there’s still a number of drivers out there who prefer a more traditionally sized car. So, in an ideal world, the best crossovers will still offer plenty of practicality and style, along with affordable running costs and a reasonable starting price.
Every new car on sale in the UK undergoes extensive assessment at the hands of our experts, and the Auto Express testing criteria focuses on the areas that matter most to buyers, such as price, practicality, running costs, equipment, driving experience and safety.
Only the crossover cars that manage to make the grade across the board will appear on this page, and you can read our in-depth reviews to find out more about each car’s individual scores.
How to choose the best crossover car for you
As with any car, choosing the best crossover car will depend largely on your own requirements. Obviously you’ll want a car that you actually like looking at, so once you’ve given a crossover the green light in terms of styling, you’ll need to be certain that you can afford your chosen car. Even if you can’t quite manage the cash price, there are often plenty of finance and leasing deals to consider.
If you like the look of the car and can afford it, you’re off to a great start. However, it’s important not to get carried away until you’re certain that you could live with it every day. You’ll want to try out any on-board tech to make sure you can navigate it with ease and, while you’re sitting inside, also get a feel for the amount of space on offer.
This is particularly important if you’re planning to use your new crossover as a family car, so be sure to check for front and rear head and legroom, as well as boot space.
Once you’re happy that you like your prospective new crossover, it’s within budget and will work for you, a bit of research into running costs will help to prevent any unexpected surprises when it comes to insurance, road tax or fuel costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
A crossover car is a ‘crossover’ of smaller hatchback underpinnings and larger SUV styling cues. The advantage of this is that you’ll get a distinctive car which, at least in some cases, will be cheaper to buy and run than a fully fledged SUV.
Need a bit more space? Take a look at our list of the best small SUVs...
