World Car of the Year 2023 finalists announced

The World Car of the Year Top Ten and Top Five finalists in seven World Car Awards categories have been announced. The countdown ends on April 5 when the winners will be announced live at the 2023 New York International Auto Show.

A jury of 100 distinguished international automotive journalists from 32 countries selected the finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each eligible vehicle.

The 2023 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) winner will be selected from the following top ten finalists chosen from an initial list of 30 contenders: Alfa Romeo Tonale. BMW 2 Series Coupé, BMW X1 / iX1, Honda HR-V, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia Niro, Mazda CX-60, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Nissan Ariya, Nissan Z.

The top five finalists in the World Electric Vehicle category are: BMW i7, Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia Niro EV, Lucid Air.

The 2023 World Luxury Car class has the following top five finalists: BMW 7 Series/i7, Genesis G90, Land Rover Range Rover, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Lucid Air.

The Ora Funky Cat is a contender for the 2023 World Car of the Year awards

The 2023 World Performance Car top five finalists are: BMW M4 CSL, Kia EV6 GT, Nissan Z, Porsche 911 (992) and the GT3 RS Toyota GR Corolla.

There were three entries only in the 2023 World Urban Car class. As such the three candidates automatically become finalists. They are: Citroen C3, ORA Funky Cat and Volkswagen Taigo.

All vehicles competing in the five categories above are eligible for the 2023 World Car Design of the Year award.

The nominated contenders will be whittled down following extensive testing from a team of more than 100 jurors from 33 countries, which includes Electrifying.com’s Ginny Buckley.

A separate award for Person of the Year will be presented to a man or woman who has made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry with nominations for 2023 including Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD, Dr. Stella Clarke, Research Engineer Open Innovations, BMW Group, SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center, Hyundai Motor Company and Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors.