Electric cars, the increasingly impressive South Koreans and BMW have dominated the lists of finalists for the 2023 World Car of the Year (WCOTY).
The finalists were released today by the WCOTY organizers, with BMW, along with Kia, Hyundai and Hyundai’s premium brand, Genesis, making every short list they were eligible for.
The winners in all six categories as well as the overall WCOTY title will be trimmed to a final three in each category on March 7 before the winners are announced on April 5, in New York.
The age of the EV has arrived, with three of the top 10 nominated outright WCOTY finalists at least offering electric powertrains, including the BMW X1/iX1 compact SUV, the Kia Niro and the Hyundai Ioniq 6.
In an open field with no apparent standout vehicle, the other WCOTY outright finalists include the Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV, the BMW 2 Series Coupe (giving BMW a 20% chance in the category), the Honda HR-V, the Mazda CX-60, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Nissan’s Ariya and Z.
The surprise packet is the Lucid Air, in its first year of eligibility, claiming final places in both the EV and Luxury categories, while Genesis made the EV list with the GV60 and the Luxury list with the G90.
The 100 WCOTY jurors, drawn from 32 countries, gave Land Rover’s Range Rover brand a thumbs-up, too, with the brand’s eponymous SUV making the short lists for both Luxury and Design, while the Range Rover Sport qualified in the Luxury division.
The South Korean Hyundai group has given itself a 60% chance of winning the EV of the Year category, with the Genesis GV60, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and the Kia Niro EV all making the cut, alongside the Lucid Air and the BMW i7 limousine.
The Design Car of the Year, which is the only category not decided by journalists, but by a panel of design experts, has the Cadillac Lyriq, the Hyundai Ioniq 6, the Range Rover, the Lucid Air and the Nissan Z on its final-five list.
It’s a more open field in the Performance Car of the Year field, with five different brands represented, from three countries.
The list is headed by traditional performance heavyweights, with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS and the BMW M4 CSL taking centre stage, alongside the Kia EV6 GT electric car, the Nissan Z and the Toyota GR Corolla.
The World Car of the Year committee controversially found only three cars (the Citroen C3, the Ora Funky Cat and the Volkswagen Taigo) were good enough or new enough for its World Urban Car of the Year category.
It has short listed executives from five different countries for the World Car Person of the Year award, including the Australian engineer, Dr Stella Clarke, who created the colour-changing BMW iX Flow.
Company heads, including BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu and Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson, have both made the short list, as have Hyundai’s design boss SangYup Lee and the head of the all-conquering Toyota Gazoo operation (which won both the World Endurance Championship and the World Rally Championship, and delivered road-going Corollas and GT86s), Naoyuki Sakamoto.
World Car of the Year finalists
Outright
Alfa Romeo Tonale
BMW 2 Series Coupe
BMW X1 and iX1
Honda HR-V
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Kia Niro
Mazda CX-60
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Nissan Ariya
Nissan Z
World Electric Car of the Year
BMW i7
Genesis GV60
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Kia Niro EV
Lucid Air
World Luxury Car of the Year
BMW 7 and i7
Genesis G90
Land Rover Range Rover
Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Lucid Air
World Performance Car of the Year
BMW M4 CSL
Kia EV6 GT
Nissan Z
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Toyota GR Corolla
World Design Car of the Year
Cadillac Lyriq
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Land Rover Range Rover
Lucid Air
Nissan z
World Urban Car of the Year
Citroen C3
Ora Funky Cat
Volkswagen Taigo
World Car Person of the Year
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)
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors)
Naoyuki Sakamoto (Chief Engineer, GR Corolla, GAZOO Racing Company, Toyota Motor Corporation)
