The Professional Driver Car of the Year awards is firmly established as the biggest and best reader-judged automotive awards in the industry.

Nobody else does it our way. The awards are among the most rigorous in the automotive industry. We hold an annual judging day event at Epsom Downs racecourse in Surrey, where we give our readers a rare chance to evaluate competing cars back-to-back, in real-world conditions. More than 60 cars are delivered to the venue for a full day’s evaluation.

We invite many of the leading operators in the country to join us as judges for two days. This year we will be looking to attract a 200 strong judging panel comprising heads of chauffeur and private hire firms, experienced chauffeurs and carefully chosen editors and journalists, who will bring their objective eye and road testing experience to bear. Judges will complete 17-point score sheets for each car they test. They will drive the cars, ride in the back seats and test out the loadspace.

There are seven categories. As well as chauffeur cars, executive vehicles and private hire cars, we choose the best MPV for chauffeuring, the best estate car and the best luxury SUV for when tough winter conditions mean a serious 4x4 is needed.

An overall Professional Driver Car of the Year is chosen from the seven category winners. All the winners are announced at our QSi Awards dinner on November 29th at the Celtic Manor resort in Newport Wales.