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The winners of the 2025 Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars awards have been announced, recognising the motoring industry’s best up-and-coming female talent spanning nine categories.

Held in conjunction with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Autocar’s Great Women awards celebrate the most successful rising stars across a wide cross-section of the industry, working for a huge variety of firms including BMW Group, JLR and Renault Group UK.

There were 79 Rising Stars recognised across nine categories, with a winner emerging from each category. All Rising Stars were judged to be outstanding in their field and honoured today at Autocar's annual Great Women event, held this year at Horiba MIRA in Warwickshire.

The Great Women: Rising Stars initiative also has an Apprentice category that recognises the most promising emerging talent from across the industry, with 32 impressive individuals named at this year’s event. 

This year’s overall winner was Mollie Deacon, general manager of Citroën Burton for Vertu, who also claimed victory in the Sales category following a rapid rise through the business, having driven impressive results in electric vehicle sales, with her team achieving a 30% EV mix despite market hesitation.

Among the category winners were Sophie Rowe, events manager, golf, at BMW UK; Loretta Dittrich, GME logistics director at JLR; and Abbie Harris, new product launch manager at Renault Group UK. 

Autocar editor Mark Tisshaw said the standards this year were higher than ever: “This year, the exceptional quality of the submissions made the judging process both challenging and rewarding. I am confident that all the winners will continue to represent the best of our industry through their successful careers and personal growth. We are very eager to follow their future achievements.”

Chair of the judging panel and managing director of Haymarket Automotive, Rachael Prasher, added: “My sincere congratulations to all the award recipients and the remarkable women we’ve recognised in 2025. The exceptional talent, wide-ranging expertise and deep-seated passion underpinning the automotive sector are truly inspiring. As we collectively steer through this period of significant industry transformation, such talent and varied perspectives are absolutely crucial.”

SMMT CEO Mike Hawes said: “The Great Women awards shine a light on some of the extraordinary people driving the automotive industry, and this year’s candidates are nothing short of inspiring. Their achievements across such a diverse range of disciplines demonstrate the many rewarding careers and lifelong professional development opportunities the sector provides. Congratulations to all the winners – the industry’s rising stars who are already shaping its future success.”

The event included a number of speakers, including talks and interviews from: Sarah Windrum, head of cluster development at Horiba MIRA; Volvo Car UK managing director Nicole Melillo Shaw; Diane Miller, director of the Parts Distribution Centre at Ellesmere Port for Stellantis; Lorraine Bishton, managing director of Subaru UK; and Renee Knott, head of project management and planning at Aston Martin.

This year’s Great Women initiative was sponsored by: Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, Bentley, BMW Group, International Motors, Ineos Automotive, Keyloop, Lookers, Horiba MIRA, Nissan, TrustFord and Volvo. 

You can read more about all the winners by visiting the Great Women in the British Car Industry microsite: www.autocar.co.uk/greatwomen/2025

The full list of category winners is as follows:   

Sales: Mollie Deacon, general manager, Citroën Burton, Vertu 

Events: Sophie Rowe, events manager, golf, BMW UK

Manufacturing: Lorretta Dittrich, GME logistics director, JLR

Marketing: Abbie Harris, new product launch manager, Renault Group UK

Digital: Molly Morrell, CX metrics specialist, Ford Pro

Operations: Natalie Dowsett, co-founder and COO, OX Delivers

PR and communications: Emily Giddings, marketing and PR director, The Little Car Company/Hedley Studios

Talent: Shani Roberts, business partner, skills, Horiba MIRA

Vehicle development: Nash Vracas, senior aerodynamicist, Aston Martin

China car maker Chery will bring its electrified off-roader brand iCar to the UK next year as part of a global sales push.

The brand will be renamed iCaur for models sold outside of China to avoid a clash with Apple, which owns the iCar name.

The line-up will include the brand’s chunky V23 small electric SUV, launched in China last year.

Top-end models use a four-wheel-drive setup (via twin electric motors) with a power output of 208bhp, drawing energy from a 82kWh NMC battery for 311 miles of range.

The V23 will be followed at the end of next year by the 4.8m-long V25 SUV, which uses a range-extender EV drivetrain with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine. 

In 2027, expect a small electric SUV dubbed V21 that will take on the Jeep Avenger.

A large V29 is also planned for a later date, although UK sales haven’t been confirmed.

iCar will open 2000 showrooms in 100 countries within three years as part of a wider Chery export push, CEO Su Jun said at the recent Shanghai motor show.

Chery already sells cars in the UK through its Omoda and Jaecoo brands, which have grown rapidly since their launch last year to record a combined 6430 sales in the first three months of the year, ahead of Suzuki, Jeep and Fiat.

The duo will soon be joined by a new Dacia-rivalling brand called Lepas.

iCar was established in 2023 as a smart EV brand with a planned range of body types including a sports car and a people carrier, but it has since focused on chunky off-roaders.

Spanish 4x4 manufacturer Santana has been revived with the backing of Chinese firm Zhengzhou Nissan, a joint venture of Nissan and Dongfeng.

Santana said it has worked with Zhengzhou Nissan and Chinese firm Anhui Coronet Tech on an “entirely new vehicle” that will offer a choice of diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

It will be built at the old Santana plant in Linares, Andalusia, and has been "designed for off-road enthusiasts", suggesting it will rival the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster.

Further details remain under wraps, but teaser images posted to the company’s website suggest it's a chunky, high-riding pick-up truck, most likely based on the Nissan Frontier Pro that was unwrapped at last week’s Shanghai motor show.

That PHEV model matches a turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol four-pot with a single electric motor for combined outputs of 402bhp and 590lb ft of torque.

It can be driven for up to 84 miles under electric power alone, albeit according to the lenient range tests used in the Chinese market.

Santana plans to unveil a full model range later this year.

The original Santana company was established in 1956 and, two years later, started producing Land Rovers in Spain under licence.

It was granted the right to launch its own variants of Land Rover models in 1980, spawning models such as the Ligero and PS-10.

It partnered Suzuki in 1985 and thereafter built versions of the Samurai, Jimny and Vitara under licence.

Between 2007 and 2011, it built a restyled version of the PS-10 for Iveco, named the Massif. Sales fell short of expectations, however, so Iveco terminated the deal, effectively killing Santana. The firm went into liquidation in 2011.

Santana isn't the only Spanish brand to have been revived with Chinese backing recently. Former truck maker Ebro has returned with the backing of Chery and now produces rebadged Tiggo SUVs at a former Nissan factory in Barcelona.