ColumnMotoring
In the first of a two-part series, Paddy Comyn picks the highlights from the new car market in 2026.
ONE VERY COOL part of my job with DoneDeal Cars is trying out new vehicles, and we have around 6,500 of them on the website.
But none of that is worth a damn to you readers unless I stick my neck out and tell you which ones, from the arrivals in 2026, that I have liked the most.
So, this week and next, I will talk you through some of the highlights of the cars I have driven when it comes to new cars, starting with the smaller, more affordable ones, and next week we can get a little sillier.
These are cars that have arrived in 2026 new to the market, not necessarily the best cars out there. We can chat about that another day.
Small Cars
The Fiat Grande Panda
Irish people have a love/hate relationship with the Fiat brand.
Mostly hate probably, but the days of truly awful Fiats are very much ancient history, and they are now part of the giant Stellantis Group, which has Citroën, Peugeot, and various other brands, so the days of Fiats that were as reliable as a Temu defibrillator are well and truly gone.
Even in Fiat’s less-than-sterling days, the Panda was a good-value, no-nonsense, and utterly charming little runaround. Fast forward to 2026, and a new Grande Panda has arrived (yes, as the name suggests, it’s not that small), and while dwarfing the original by some degree, it is still a compact car that offers good value.
Offered with a choice of a 1.2-litre hybrid or a 44 kWh electric version, it starts from €22,995 for the electric and €25,800 for the hybrid. The electric has a range potential of around 320 km, so choose the hybrid if you can’t live with that sort of range (although you probably can).
The styling is really nice, with subtle nods to the original Panda from the 1980s, and the electric version even has a retractable charging cable behind the grille, which is very handy. My favourite small car of this year.
Small SUV
Kia EV2
Most of the new entrants in the small crossover space are under the €30,000 mark, with some very decent offerings from the likes of Citroën with the C3 Aircross, Renault with the Renault 4 E-Tech, and BYD’s Atto 2.
But for me, the one that stood out was Korea’s Kia brand with the EV2. The EV2, as the name suggests, is offered only as an electric vehicle. Kia has adopted quite a Russian-dolls approach to styling, with the EV2 looking quite like a smaller version of the EV3, EV5, EV9, and so on.
The EV2 starts from €26,660 with a 42.2 kWh battery which is good for around 300 km, but pay around €3,000 more, and you get into one with a 61 kWh battery and that will return over 450 km, and unlike some brands, the Kias tend to do pretty much what they say on the tin.
This is a really brilliant car and one of the reasons Kia is a brand to watch and enjoying significant success both here and abroad.
Compact Car
Kia K4
You don’t get a whole lot of new compact cars any more since everyone is so utterly obsessed with SUVs.
So now, when one comes along, it is quite a rarity, and bearing in mind that I have yet to drive the Leapmotor B05 or the new Hyundai Ioniq 3, I would be recommending that if someone wants the most normal of “cars” then they should take a look at another Kia, the Kia K4.
It starts from around €32,000, and before you spit out your Frosties, remember that the once humble Volkswagen Golf now starts from €34,630. The greatest compliment I can give the Kia K4 is that it is the most normal new car on the market in that it is a normal-shaped car, not an SUV, and it comes with a pretty normal petrol engine (okay, it’s a mild hybrid, but if I stick a Duracell in my ear, it makes me a mild hybrid), and you can still have it with a six-speed manual transmission.
For anyone who vomits at the mention of either an EV or an SUV, this car will be perfect for them. It just happens to be also a really good car, nicely put together, brilliant spec, and good to drive.
Compact SUV / Crossover
Opel Frontera
The Opel Frontera will make an awful lot of sense to an awful lot of people, and that is why it is my choice in this segment.
It is a compact crossover that starts from under €25,000 in EV guise, and as an EV, you can have it with two battery sizes—44 kWh or 54 kWh—neither of which is particularly large by modern standards, but they will more than do the job for most people.
If you commute from Dublin to Cork every day, then get something else, but anyone else should be fine. You can also have it with a 1.2-litre mild-hybrid with 110 hp or 145 hp, and these are really decent little engines. But crucially, you can even get the Frontera with seven seats from under €35,000.
These rear seats are a little snug, but they will do a super job for lots of people. Opel hasn’t been producing much to shout about of late, but with this, there is reason to take notice again.
Next week: Medium SUV, Large Car & 7-Seater, Premium Car, Premium SUV, and Performance Car.
Paddy Comyn is the head of automotive content and communications with DoneDeal Cars. He has been involved in the Irish motor industry for more than 25 years.
Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with DoneDeal Ltd