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Best MPVs 2023

2023's best people-carriers are super versatile, but don't skimp on style or excitement...

Auto Trader

Words by: Auto Trader

Last updated on 14 August 2023 | 0 min read

Although SUVs are the most popular family vehicles right now, there’s still little to beat the sheer versatility of an MPV - a multi-purpose vehicle.
They’re perfect for family life, typically featuring interiors with every-which-way-but-loose configurable seating, loads of storage spaces, a plethora of drinks holders and USB ports, and usually some other neat touches that make every journey that bit easier. A dying breed in some ways, there are fewer MPVs from fewer manufacturers these days, but you can still find some cracking examples from new. Here are ten of the very best.
BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
BMW was a very late entrant to the MPV market with the 2 Series Active (five-seat) and Gran (seven-seat) Tourers, launching them in 2014. But so successful was the first-generation car that the formula continues into an all-new model line. This time around, there’s only the five-seater Active Tourer, but it boasts a supremely high-quality interior with loads of room, plus a typically brilliant BMW chassis that blends some handling finesse with plenty of ride comfort and refinement. Efficient petrol and plug-in hybrid drivetrains seal the deal for the 2 Series Active Tourer being a top new MPV.
BMW 2 Series Active Tourer front
blue BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
Citroen e-Berlingo
Part of a Stellantis group platform-sharing exercise, which means the same compact, van-based MPV is available as the Peugeot e-Rifter or Vauxhall Combo Life Electric, the Citroen e-Berlingo is an excellent all-electric family mover. Its smooth motor and good-sized battery pack result in a 174-mile range, while there are two body styles to choose from – the five-seat M, or the seven-seat XL.
Citroen e-Berlingo front
Citroen e-Berlingo on the road
Dacia Jogger
Unlike many of the van-derived vehicles on this list, the Dacia Jogger is an estate car with a degree of off-road styling mixed in for good measure. It’s also the cheapest new seven-seat vehicle you can buy, which makes it great value – as you would expect from Dacia. You can choose from a sweet and efficient petrol turbo engine or a Hybrid model. Both have excellent performance. However, it’s the multitude of seats that makes this car so appealing, as the Jogger’s rear-most two chairs are really easy to completely remove if you need more boot space, or fit back in if you want to carry the maximum of passengers.
Dacia Jogger
Dacia Jogger side
Ford S-Max
Ford designed the S-Max to be a traditional MPV, that nevertheless had a touch of design flair and a driving experience to make it more interesting than its contemporary competition. That was in 2006 and this second-generation car arrived in 2015. It’s getting on a bit, but it’s still a deeply talented seven-seater. It’s powered by a strong hybrid drivetrain, that gives both excellent efficiency and potent performance. And you’ll also enjoy a quality interior from Ford, complete with lots of flexibility and clever storage solutions.
red Ford S-Max on the road
Mercedes V-Class/EQV
Many of the best MPVs these days are based on commercial vehicles, and the plush V-Class is no exception. The regular model is powered by a choice of two turbodiesel engines, and comes in two body styles – Long and Extra-Long – with a choice of either seven or eight seats… or even four, if you specify the V-Class as the Marco Polo camper van. It’s available as an all-electric vehicle too, called the EQV. The EQV can only be configured as a seven-seater in the Extra-Long body style, but you’ll get up to 213 miles of zero-emissions driving from it – all while moving up to seven people in the maximum of comfort.
Mercedes V-Class/EQV
Peugeot e-Traveller
Like the smaller Citroen e-Berlingo/Peugeot e-Rifter/Vauxhall Combo Life Electric grouping, the Stellantis conglomerate has a larger MPV available from all three manufacturers – as well as a Toyota version (see below). The Peugeot e-Traveller comes in either seven- or eight-seats. It has a maximum range of 148 miles, which perhaps isn’t the most generous, but the e-Traveller’s huge van-based body makes for acres of room, plus the capacity for a simply vast cargo area if you want it.
Peugeot e-Traveller front
Peugeot e-Traveller back
Toyota Proace Verso
We’ve included the Toyota Proace Verso immediately below the identical Peugeot e-Traveller for one reason – while the Citroen, aforementioned Peugeot and Vauxhall models are all electric-only, the Proace still comes with a choice of two diesel engines. That means it’s a longer-range MPV, if that’s what you need, but of course it shares all the seating attributes and practicality advantages of its van-derived cousins. Plus, of course, it has Toyota’s legendary reputation for reliability behind it, too.
Toyota Proace Verso front
Toyota Proace Verso back
Toyota Proace Verso side
Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
This is the Vauxhall alternative to the Citroen e-Berlingo listed above – and it has perhaps more agreeable exterior styling than the deliberately quirky French vehicle. Yet the Vauxhall comes with the same choice of bodies (M or XL), meaning you can have either five or seven seats as you require. You get the same 174-mile all-electric range, resulting in £0 VED and £0 for the London Congestion Charge, and Vauxhall also provides a choice of two specifications – so you can make sure you have the right equipment levels you want to keep your family comfortable during journeys.
Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
Volkswagen Touran
We finish with two MPVs from the same manufacturer – and this isn’t even Volkswagen’s lot, as the company also now sells the superb-looking, all-electric ID.Buzz, a modern-day revival of the classic 1960s camper van. But we’re going to focus on the more conventional models, the first of which is the more compact Touran. It’s a ‘classic’ MPV – as in, not based on a van but a specially developed car-derived model. Think of it as a oversized Golf Estate, but one that comes with seven seats. A genuinely top-notch cabin in terms of quality, and also one of VW’s super-smooth TSI turbo petrol engines, make it really appealing. Alongside the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer and Ford S-Max, this is one of the last car-like MPVs out there.
blue Volkswagen Touran
Volkswagen Multivan
If the Touran’s not to your taste, the Volkswagen Multivan surely will be. It leans much more towards the stylish appearance of the ID.Buzz. Yet the Multivan, a successor to the old Transporter-based MPVs from Volkswagen, this time doesn’t have a commercial equivalent, which means this is a dedicated MPV – it’s just that VW has worked out the most practical and versatile shape going is something that looks like a panel van with windows. What’s so brilliant about the Multivan, though, is that it feels truly top-end, while a range of efficient petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid drivetrains provide economical family motoring without any significant dramas.
Volkswagen Multivan front
Volkswagen Multivan back