World Car of the Year Awards - The Winners

Car NewsCar Awards

2 Apr

April Fools Day maybe World Prankfest Day, but for car manufacturers this is a serious day. Finding out whether their latest and greatest cars have been successful in claiming a coveted and prestigious WCOTY award, must be a very tense moment. But, the wait is over and the awards have been handed out at an industry ceremony.

About WCOTY

With nearly 100 jurors from around the world, who are industry experts, WCOTY states “it is the mission of the World Car Awards and its global jurors to recognize, reward and inspire automotive excellence, leadership and innovation in a rapidly changing automotive industry on a global scale.”

With six distinct categories, there is a huge number of cars fighting over very few top spots, so these awards represent excellence, ensuring manufacturers who receive the accolade will undoubtedly be a huge marketing win for the brand. But this year it was electric cars that dominated in all categories signifying how far they have come along in a short time.

The Winners

World Car of the Year
The overall winner was the new BMW iX3 scooping several awards, but it took home the most prestigious World Car of the Year award. This is well deserved, and if you have not read and watched Jim’s review from last month, please do check it out via the link above to find out why - it really is an impressive car.

World Electric Vehicle Award
The iX3 also won the World Electric Vehicle award. Unsurprising as it is somewhat of a groundbreaking EV with a huge 500 miles of range, superfast charging, and so much more to offer. This really does set the a new benchmark for all EV’s to aspire to.

World Car Person of the Year
But it didn’t end there because Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management, BMW, also won World Car Person of the Year.
WCOTY said “Under his leadership, BMW has pursued a technology-open approach to electrification, digitalisation and sustainability, while maintaining a strong focus on brand identity and profitability. Zipse’s steady, engineering-led leadership has helped shape BMW’s direction in a rapidly evolving global automotive landscape.”

World Luxury Car
The Lucid Gravity won World Luxury Car, but it’s yet to be sold in right-hand drive markets, so the U.K. is missing out on this slice of luxurious super long range cruiser. But never say never as Lucid does have plans to build RHD cars in the future.
For now, we can only dream about this 500 mile+ range super-cruiser being seen on U.K. roads.

World Performance Car
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 N won World Performance Car and Jim covered the 6 N story back in January where he reported the 6 N as a thoroughly re-worked performance car, so it seems the extra effort Hyundai has put into to transform their 6 into a Perfomance car has not gone unnoticed.

World Urban Vehicle
Firefly is another brand that we have yet to see in the U.K. It’s a sub-brand from Chinese manufacturer Nio that also hasn’t arrived in the U.K. yet, but the all-electric Firefly has won the World Urban Vehicle.
The good news is that Nio intends to enter the U.K. market soon, and with it, bring the now award winning Firefly.

World Car Design of the Year
Lastly, the all-new Mazda 6e won World Car Design of the year. The 6e is based on the Changan Deepal SL03 architecture with a heavy re-work and fresh design by Mazda.
In recent years Mazda has produced some striking cars and the new 6e is certainly an eye catcher.