These are the best towcars for 2026

The Volkswagen Passat has been named Towcar of the Year 2026, alongside a raft of category winners that range from Bentley to Volvo.

The accolades formed the 43rd Caravan and Motorhome Club Towcar of the Year awards – the original competition for towcars that sets out to find the best towing vehicles for the caravan and leisure markets.

The German estate car triumphed and took the overall title after a panel of industry-leading judges felt it offered a market-leading package of practicality, comfort, tech, and outstanding towing credentials.

The Passat, in R-Line 2.0 TSI 201bhp DSG guise, also took home the Family Towcars award and came out on top in the caravan weight 1,300kg-1,500kg category.

It was one of 37 cars tested by the 118-year-old organisation at the world famous UTAC Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire.

The rigorous testing procedure saw each car hitched to caravans and ballasted to 85 per cent of the cars’ kerbweights, or towing limits if lower, to replicate real-world towing scenarios.

Tests included several hundred laps of the facility’s ‘alpine’ course and high-speed bowl, plus acceleration tests from a standstill to motorway speeds, high-speed braking tests, and examining the cars’ practical credentials by loading caravanning paraphernalia into the vehicles’ boots.

Other award winners were the BMW iX in the Electric Towcars category, the Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV in the Hybrid Cars category, Isuzu’s D-Max in Pick Up Towcars, the Volkswagen Multivan in Large Family Towcars, and the Bentley Bentayga EWB Mulliner in the Luxury Towcars category.

In the weight category awards, Skoda’s recently refreshed Enyaq, in four-wheel drive 85x guise, took the spoils in the lightest weight category, caravan weight under 1,300kg, while the 1,500kg-1,600kg category victor was the Nissan Ariya e-4orce Evolve.

The Genesis GV60 snatched the caravan weight 1,600-1,700kg category win, while the brand new BMW X3 M50 was the winner in the 1,700-1,800kg weight class. Meanwhile, in the larger weight categories 1,800-2,000kg and over 2,000kg, the Porsche Macan Electric and BMW iX xDrive60 M Sport were victorious, respectively.

Nick Lomas, Director General of the Caravan and Motorhome Club, said: “The pace of technological advancement in motoring has been remarkable and the strong presence of electric vehicles in this year’s competition highlights just how far the industry has come.

“We warmly congratulate all the deserving winners of the Caravan and Motorhome Club Towcar of the Year 2026 Awards. Our expert judging panel delivered thorough, unbiased evaluations to support anyone looking to purchase a towcar, whether new or pre-owned, with trusted, professional insight.”