Which New Cars and Concepts Impressed You the Most in 2012?

Europe may be in trouble but many of its automakers are performing just fine and the rest of the world seems to be doing okay, as global new car sales are tipped to exceed 80 million units for the first time ever.

Therefore, you could say that 2012 has been a good year for the automotive industry, which rolled out a whole lot of new models.

With only three days to go until the end of the year, we found ourselves asking out loudly: which newly presented production and concept vehicles impressed us the most?

Choosing a supercar like the Ferrari F12berlinetta, the Lamborghini Aventador J one-off or the “normal” Roadster is easy as these kind of models look stunning and pack some serious firepower. Not too long ago, 700-horses used to be reserved for racers or tuners. The new breed of supercars matches or exceeds that figure...

The same goes with concepts: the Acura NSX and the Lexus LF-LC, in particular, had us drooling not only due to their styling, but because they previewed actual models that will hit the streets very soon.

John keeps yelling that I should stop beating around the bush and openly declare my picks of the year right now, so here goes nothing.

As much as I fancied the new Mazda6’s styling, the seventh-gen Golf's technology, the SRT Viper’s sheer audacity and the F12berlinetta’s, well…, everything, if I had to pick just one production car, that would be the Renault Clio Mk4.

If you're wondering why, it's because a.) it looks great, b.) it pushes the brand forward and c.) it has a wide line-up that includes the performance-oriented RS.

The concept car was a much easier choice: the BMW 4-Series gets my vote hands down. The only issue I have with the 4-Series is the change of name. Like most auto enthusiasts, when I hear the word “M3” I instantly associate it with a certain compact executive BMW that the M-Division put its hand on, whereas "M4" reminds me of a motorway…

There, I’ve done it; now it’s your turn to name the cars that impressed you the most this year in the comments section that follows.

P.S. The F-Type and the Panamera Sport Turismo almost made it, the first because if it delivers on its promises it will be a return on form for Jaguar, and the second because it's how the Panamera should have looked like in the first place.

The reason they didn't make the cut is that Jaguar having a sports car in its range and Porsche turning out a handsome-looking model is less impressive than the fact that their makers didn't come to this conclusion before being panned by both the press and the public…

By Andrew Tsaousis

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