The winning models in this year’s Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX competition exhibit a strong trend toward either light-colored cabins and/or those with bold accent colors, plus nearly universal Android Automotive OS as the backbone of their excellent user-experience technologies.
“Half of our winning vehicles – the Buick Enclave, Cadillac Optiq, Ford Expedition, Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Volvo EX90 – have interiors leaning heavily on ivory or pale beige and gray tones,” says Christie Schweinsberg, Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX program manager and judge. “This creates a serene space for drivers and passengers and helps soften the stress that can come with increasing amounts of technology in modern automobiles, as well as driving on increasingly traffic-clogged roadways.”
Many of the winning vehicles combine their lighter tones with a bolder color, including blue for the Enclave and Optiq, and black for the Expedition and Ioniq 9. The Kia K4 tested has a mostly black interior, but ivory is heavily employed as a contrasting color, while the Dodge Charger Daytona and Nissan Kicks both use red as a counterpoint for black. The Toyota 4Runner’s passenger space is unique among our list in being almost entirely navy, a daring aesthetic move that pays off for the No.1 Japanese automaker and its legendary off-roading SUV. Meanwhile, the GMC Yukon Denali employs a less aggressive, but still beautiful, pale brown tone to decorate its western-themed cabin.
The interior of the EX90 has all light shades and is notable for being one of the most sustainable interiors crafted yet by an automaker, with nearly 110 pounds (52 kg) of its content made of recycled and/or bio-based materials, including wood trim harvested from trees in forests certified sustainable by the global Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Another key trend in our 2025 winning crop of vehicles is the presence of Google’s Android Automotive operating system controlling some, if not all, infotainment functions. Android OS is used in the three winning models by General Motors (Enclave, Optiq and Yukon Denali), the Expedition, plus the K4, Kicks and EX90. Volvo was early to embrace Google’s Android Automotive OS for its infotainment systems, but its integration is much improved with better menu organization in the new EX90 compared with prior Volvos. Even our hard-core Apple fans on the judging staff admit the Google interface is becoming very user-friendly.
“The Android OS simply works well, and by not eating up engineering time and focus on reinventing the wheel, automakers can concentrate on design and user-experience innovations that better delight customers and set their vehicles and brands apart,” notes Wards 10 Best Judge Dave Zoia.
As has been the case with recent winners, we continue to see more out-of-the-box decorative trim, such as the clear and smoked acrylic in the Charger Daytona and Optiq; easier and faster phone pairing; increasing numbers of USB-C ports as well as a rising number of models with at least one 110V-120V AC outlet; multicolor ambient lighting systems; massaging seats and third rows with better fit-and-finish than in years past.
Fabric as decorative trim and clever storage solutions, such as the underfloor space in the cargo area of the EX90 and the unique multifunction center consoles in the Expedition and Ioniq 9, were other interesting features among this year’s winners.
Another burgeoning trend is the app-ification of the infotainment system, with several nominees and winning models offering atypical apps, including Tidal and Waze in the Optiq and movie streaming apps Amazon Prime Video, Max and Peacock available in the Expedition.
While last year’s winning models were entirely light trucks, the 2-door coupe/hatchback Charger Daytona and 4-door K4 sedan upend that trend for the 2025 list.
The K4, along with the Kicks, also is affordable. Both are under $35,000, roughly $15,000 less than the average price of a new vehicle in the U.S. Wards 10 Best judges have always kept affordability in mind but perhaps paid it increasing attention this year as new vehicles become increasingly out of reach for many Americans. The interiors and UX technologies in both the K4 and Kicks are on par with more expensive models on our list, meaning buyers of lower-priced models need not sacrifice high style nor advanced technology.
A change from the 2024’s winners’ list is the presence of more battery-electric vehicles. This can be attributed to more BEV model launches than last year. While only four BEVs were tested last year (with two of them winning, the Chevrolet Blazer and Kia EV9), among this year’s nominees Wards judges evaluated 14 BEVs and saw four winners: the Charger Daytona, Ioniq 9, Optiq and EX90.
Ford, GM, Hyundai-Kia, Stellantis and Toyota repeat as winning automakers in 2025. Kia has fielded a winning 10 Best Interiors and UX vehicle for the past four years: K4 in 2025, EV9 in 2024, Sportage Hybrid in 2023 and EV6 in 2022, while sister brand Hyundai has placed winners in each of the past three years: Palisade in 2023, Kona and Santa Fe in 2024 and Ioniq 9 in 2025.
The Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX program does not dictate entries for evaluation but asks brands to deliver a vehicle interior that best represents its designer’s intent and the brand’s foremost technology.
Evaluations of nominated vehicles took place in winter and early spring 2025, with judges experiencing the nominees during their daily driving. Judges rate new or heavily refreshed vehicle interiors and user-experience technology on a variety of metrics including design aesthetics, comfort, materials, fit-and-finish, connectivity and infotainment, and displays and controls, as well as advanced driver-assistance system content and value.
We will highlight each winner in stories and galleries that begin posting May 21 on wardsauto.com.
The 2025 Wards 10 Best Interiors and UX trophies will be presented June 5 at an award ceremony during the AutoTech: Detroit conference, which begins June 3 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, MI.
2025 Wards 10 Best Interiors and UX nominee list (*denotes winner):
Acura ZDX
Buick Enclave*
Cadillac Escalade IQ
Cadillac Optiq*
Chevy Equinox EV
Dodge Charger Daytona*
Fiat 500e
Ford Expedition*
Genesis GV80 Coupe
GMC Sierra Denali EV
GMC Yukon Denali*
Honda Odyssey
Honda Prologue
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Hyundai Ioniq 9*
Infiniti QX80
Jeep Wagoneer S
Kia K4*
Lexus GX
Lexus LX
Lincoln Navigator
Mazda CX-70
Mercedes CLE 450C
Mitsubishi Outlander
Nissan Kicks*
Nissan Murano
Polestar 3
Subaru Forester
Toyota Camry
Toyota 4Runner*
Volkswagen ID.Buzz
Volkswagen Taos
Volvo EX90*
