◾Four Volkswagen models named new car 'best buys' in 2016 Which? Car Guide

◾e-up!, e-Golf, Passat Estate and Golf SV all top their respective classes

◾Which? 2016 Car Guide rates and recommends hundreds of new and used cars

Volkswagen delivers an industry-leading performance in the new car 'best buy' categories of prominent independent UK consumer body Which?.

The 2016 Which? Car Guide, published today, puts no fewer than four Volkswagen models top of their respective classes based on a combination of independent lab and road tests carried out by the Which? team, plus owner feedback gathered through the annual Which? Car Survey.

Among the Volkswagen models named as 'best buys' are two of the brand's electric models: the e-up! and the e-Golf. Scooping the best buy in the City Car class is the diminutive e-up! while the e-Golf's performance in the Medium Car class led the experts at Which? to declare of it: 'All the brilliance of a Golf, but battery powered.'

Another class-leading Golf is the SV, which takes the MPV best buy honours in the 2016 guide. The family-focused car is characterised as offering 'all the benefits of a Golf and more; a fine five seater'. Meanwhile the capacious and practical new Passat Estate is the German brand's final category leader in the 2016 Car Guide. It secured a 'best buy' in the Estate Car class, with Which? declaring of it: 'A consummate all-rounder. It blends estate versatility with the upmarket image of a premium German saloon.'

In his foreword to the 2016 publication, Which? Cars Editor Nic Shaw writes: 'The 2016 Which? Car Guide is your guide to the very best cars you can buy based on our expert impartial tests, plus reliability and satisfaction data from the UK's largest survey of car owners.'

Which? is today the largest consumer body in the UK with more than 1.4 million members and supporters.

Welcoming the ringing endorsement for four of the brand's models Director of Volkswagen UK, Alison Jones, said: 'It's great to see such a broad spectrum of new Volkswagen cars praised in this independent guide.

'But, just as encouragingly, it is two of our new breed of electric cars – the e-up! and the e-Golf – that are singled out for praise in their respective classes.

'Volkswagen has a clear strategy to develop and extend its e-mobility offering over the years ahead, and to see that we are already leading the way so successfully is very encouraging.'

For more details of the entire Volkswagen range, please log on to www.volkswagen.co.uk and to find out more about the brand's range of pure electric and hybrid models, visit http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/electric-vehicles