Electric cars dominate as World Car of the Year 2023 finalists announced

The finalists for the 2023 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) Award have been revealed ahead of the announcement of an overall winner on 5th April at the New York Auto Show. 

The three final contenders for World Car of the Year are all electric or have electric versions. Following the 2022 win for the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai is back again with the Ioniq 6, which is joined by the BMW iX1 and Kia Niro EV. 

The top three finalists have also been announced in six World Car Awards categories. They are:

World Car of the Year- BMW X1 / iX1, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia Niro 

World Electric Vehicle- BMW i7, Hyundai Ioniq 6,  Lucid Air 

World Luxury Car- BMW 7 Series / i7, Genesis G90, Lucid Air 

World Performance Car- Kia EV6 GT, Nissan Z, Toyota GR Corolla 

World Urban Car- Citroen C3, ORA Funky Cat, Volkswagen Taigo/Nivus 

World Car Design- Hyundai Ioniq 6, Land Rover Range Rover, Lucid Air

The nominated contenders were whittled down following extensive testing from a team of more than 100 jurors from 33 countries, which includes Electrifying.com’s Ginny Buckley, and also features separate lists for Performance Car of the Year, Luxury Car of the Year and Urban Car of the Year which can be seen in full here.

For the Design Award, a panel consisting of six highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors’ final vote. The design experts are in alphabetical order: Ian Callum, Gert Hildebrand, Patrick le Quément, Tom Matano, Victor Nacif and Shiro Nakamura.

The winners will receive new trophies designed by former Jaguar Design Chief Ian Callum at the New York International Auto Show on April 5.

The Person of the Year for 2023 has already been announced, with SangYup Lee, Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center, scooping the prize.

Previous all-electric World Car of the Year winners:
2022: Hyundai Ioniq 5
2021: Volkswagen ID.4
2019: Jaguar I-PACE

Hyundai IONIQ 5 Review

Hyundai IONIQ 6 Review

BMW i7 Review

Genesis GV60 Review

Lucid Air Review

The Lucid Air is nominated in the Luxury category