News UK fires up the engines on The Sunday Times Motor Awards 2020 as it announces the nationwide awards scheme for the motoring industry has opened its doors for voting.

Now in its third year, the Motor Awards brings together the collective expertise and audiences of The Times, The Sunday Times, Driving.co.uk, The Sun and talkSPORT.

The awards will once again be judged by consumers as well as prominent automotive journalists across News UK’s titles and will look to champion best-in-class across all motor segments.

Consumers will be able to vote for free across four categories including ‘Dog Friendly Car of the Year’, ‘Best Designed Car of the Year’ for The Sunday Times and ‘The Legend Award’ and ‘Family Car of the Year’ for The Sun.

Our motoring journalists – including Rob Gill, motors editor, The Sun; Nick Rufford, assistant editor, The Sunday Times; Will Dron, editor, Driving.co.uk and David Green, motoring editor, Luxx magazine – will be casting their expert votes in separate categories including Sports, Family, Adventure and Electric. The winners of each category will be revealed on Sunday October 4 in The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sun on Sunday and Driving.co.uk.

Rob Walsh, motors category director at News UK, said: “We’re delighted to be launching the Motor Awards once again to help celebrate the outstanding new vehicles of the last 12 months. It’s been a difficult time for the UK automotive industry and the awards plays an important role in showing our continued support for the sector and championing the many fantastic new models and innovations across the spectrum of categories.

“The extensive reach of News UK’s motoring audiences allied to the judgments of our motoring experts makes the Motor Awards a valued prize for manufacturers. We anticipate a fierce competition and look forward to crowning our winners in October.”

Will Dron, editor of Driving.co.uk, commented: “Before Covid-19, car makers were already going through an unprecedented period of change, introducing new, cleaner, electrified vehicles to their line-ups.

“To be faced with a global pandemic at this time has been a serious challenge for them. For drivers, though, there’s reason to be extremely optimistic as the cars we considered for this year’s awards, all of which went on sale in the 12 months before lockdown, include some absolute game-changers, setting new standards for performance, frugality, style and comfort. Picking the shortlist in each category has been tough; choosing the winners and our Sunday Times Car of the Year is going to be even harder.”

The Motor Awards voting will run until Monday September 14. For more information on the awards and how to vote, please visit Driving.co.uk and The Sun.