AutoGuide's Most Anticipated Cars of 2025

It’s a brand new year, and we’re heading into it with an optimistic mindset.

That’s because we’re committing to a New Year’s resolution of our own: drive more cars. Apparently less than 10 percent of New Year’s resolutions actually stick, so we’re pretty confident of our chances here.

Every year the AutoGuide team drives hundreds of new cars. While that’s bound to happen again here in 2025, we’ve compiled a small list of the ones we’re most excited about. It could be for any reason: an established brand branching out into something new, a tweaked version of a current favorite, or a classic name brought back to life.

Your list is bound to look different from ours too, so make sure to let us know in the comments what you’re looking forward to!

It’s coming, honest: the Neue Klasse was on last year’s list, but production is set to start this year. Neue Klasse isn’t just one vehicle, but an entire family, meant to signify the next generation of BMW’s EV architecture. Both SUVs and sedans will be available, with styling heavily inspired by the Neue Klasse X concept. BMW’s electrified offerings are already some of our favorites in the industry, so we expect big things from the New Class.

We only just got over how deeply impressive the E-Ray is, and already the Corvette camp has unleashed something even wilder. The ZR1 has been breaking records even before it arrived: the fastest American production car ever broke 200 mph at Germany’s Nürburgring on its very first laps.

We don’t have an official Green Hell time yet, but whenever this 1,064-horsepower C8 does post one, you know it’ll start with a 6. We can’t wait to get behind the wheel of Chevy’s supercar slayer.

It just squeaked into 2024, but it’s safe to call the Charger Daytona EV one of Dodge’s most critical new-car launches in a long time. Mike liked it well enough when he got to drive it, but the EV coupe and its Fratzonic exhaust is only half of the equation.

Or really, a quarter: not only will the sedan arrive this year, but also the internal combustion models. Powered by the excellent Hurricane inline-six and producing an M4-beating 540 horsepower in the top form, the gas models should provide their own sort of fun for fans of muscle cars.

Had you told us two years ago that 2025 would see not only the Prelude’s return, but the potential for it to face-off against a reborn Toyota Celica, we’d have laughed. We know the ‘90s are having a moment right now, but c’mon.

Well, they’re both happening. The Prelude will arrive later this year, sporting Honda’s hybrid powertrain combined with bits nicked from the Civic Type R. Adaptive dampers should give it a wide breadth of abilities, and Honda is said to be including simulated shifts to pump up driver engagement. Bring it on.

The arguable star of the 2024 LA Auto Show will arrive in dealerships later this year. The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is the brand’s largest vehicle yet, and will serve as the all-electric family-friendly flagship. The three-row SUV has a bigger battery for over 300 miles (483 kilometers) of range, but the real draw is the spacious, lounge-like cabin.

The second-row seats can recline like other models in the Hyundai/Kia family, but being able to swivel—while the car is stationary of course—is a whole ‘nother level.

We were fortunate enough to hitch a ride in a pre-production Polestar 5 last summer. Even in that not-quite-done form, from the passenger seat, it was clear the young EV brand is targeting big players. The P5 is going after nothing short of the Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air, a big and sporty sedan in the grand tourer mold. The 5 might not be the sales volume leader the Polestar 3 is meant to be, but it will serve as a declaration of driver enjoyment for the brand.

We ended the year with one of the wildest, purest drivers’ cars of 2024 with the Porsche 718 Spyder RS. It marks a final, 493-horsepower send-off for the existing, internal combustion Boxster. Both the droptop and its Cayman sibling are set to see new, all-electric models debut this year.

Rumor has it the project has seen some speed bumps, but with the Taycan and Macan EV as proof of what Porsche can achieve with electrons, we are cautiously optimistic that the new 718s—or whatever they end up being called—should still provide plenty of fun.

Do we like the Rivian R1S and R1T? Did we eat too many candies during the limbo week between Christmas and New Years? Yes on both counts.

As impressive as the not-quite-full-size R1T pickup and three-row R1S are, they’re all Rivian has. That will change when the smaller R2 comes on-stream for the 2026 model year. Expected to start in the mid-$40s, the R2 is roughly RAV4-sized, and will come with single, double, and even triple-motor variants. Expect a whole bunch of accessories to go with Rivian’s adventure image, too.

Rumor has it the scientific community has begun to use Toyota 4Runners lifecycles to measure time. Yes, the current 4Runner has been around for-freaking-ever, but that all changes this year.

The new 4Runner returns to its roots, visually looking much more like a Tacoma SUV than it has in decades. The two vehicles share a platform after all—as does the reborn Land Cruiser. The 4Runner will tackle a slightly different buyer than the Cruiser, however: it will once again include a desert-running TRD Pro model, with trick suspension but lacking those wild IsoDynamic seats found in the pickup.

We’ll be driving the new, turbo hybrid four-cylinder 4Runner in a matter of weeks.

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