The ground-breaking Kia EV9 electric seven-seat family SUV has been named 2024 World Car of the Year and World Electric Car of the Year – as voted by 100 judges from 30 countries – in the 20th annual running of the awards.
Announced at the New York Auto Show overnight, highlights from the 2024 World Car of the Year awards include:
- The fifth time in six years an electric vehicle has won the world’s biggest automotive prize;
- The fourth time in five years top honours went to a South Korean car brand after Hyundai won in 2023 and 2022 and Kia won in 2020.
In a demonstration of just how far South Korean cars have come from their humble beginnings, Kia and Hyundai cars won three of the six categories in the 2024 World Car of the Year line-up.
And a sign of our changing taste in cars, four of the six category winners were electric vehicles.
Although it costs close to – or in excess of – $100,000 in Australia (depending on the model grade), the Kia EV9 was praised by the judges for bringing electric power to full-size seven-seat SUVs, and for the vehicle’s noticeable step up in quality and overall driving dynamics.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N hot hatch won the World Performance Car award – one year after its sibling under the skin, the Kia EV6 GT, won the same category.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N’s award is a clear endorsement that electric power is no barrier to top end performance.
Local testing by EFTM of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N shows it has real-world 0 to 100km/h acceleration of 3.5 seconds (using VBox timing equipment). It wasn’t that long ago this level of performance was restricted to mega-dollar supercars.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has massive brakes to match its speed, with larger front discs than the sibling Kia EV6 GT – sports-tuned suspension, and extra coolers for the battery pack and electric motors to handle sustained performance driving such as on track days.
Overseas tests have shown the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is capable of reaching 265km/h (indicated) on Hyundai’s high-speed test track.
The full list of winners in the 2024 World Car of the Year awards – and the historical results – are shown below.
Disclosure: EFTM’s Joshua Dowling has been a World Car of the Year judge since 2010.
Eligibility: For the 2024 World Car of the Year awards there were 100 judges from 30 countries (compared to 105 judges from 35 countries in 2023 and 102 judges from 33 countries tin 2022). The judges can only vote on vehicles they have driven, though approximately half of the judges drove a large proportion of the 70 eligible vehicles at an annual test drive event in the US in late 2023, as well as testing vehicles in their domestic markets throughout the year.
The votes – lodged anonymously – are compiled by accounting firm KPMG. Vehicles eligible for World Car of the Year award must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units per year, must be priced below the luxury-car level in their primary markets, and must be on sale in at least two major markets, on at least two separate continents.
2024
- Kia EV9 – World Car of the Year
- BMW 5 Series – World Luxury Car
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 N – World Performance Car
- Kia EV9 – World Electric Car
- Volvo EX30 – World Urban Car
- Toyota Prius – World Car Design of the Year
2023
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 – World Car of the Year
- Lucid Air – World Luxury Car
- Kia EV6 GT – World Performance Car
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 – World Electric Car
- Citroen C3 – World Urban Car
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 – World Car Design of the Year
2022
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – World Car of the Year
- Mercedes-Benz EQS – World Luxury Car
- Audi E-Tron GT – World Performance Car
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – World Electric Car
- Toyota Yaris Cross – World Urban Car
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – World Car Design of the Year
2021
- Volkswagen ID.4 – World Car of the Year
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class – World Luxury Car
- Porsche 911 Turbo – World Performance Car
- Honda E – World Urban Car
- Land Rover Defender – World Car Design of the Year
2020
- Kia Telluride – World Car of the Year
- Porsche Taycan – World Luxury Car
- Porsche Taycan – World Performance Car
- Kia Soul EV – World Urban Car
- Mazda 3 – World Car Design of the Year
2019
- Jaguar I-Pace – World Car of the Year
- Audi A7 – World Luxury Car
- McLaren 720S – World Performance Car
- Jaguar I-Pace – World Green Car
- Suzuki Jimny – World Urban Car
- Jaguar I-Pace – World Car Design of the Year
2018
- Volvo XC60 – World Car of the Year
- Audi A8 – World Luxury Car
- BMW M5 – World Performance Car
- Nissan Leaf – World Green Car
- Volkswagen Polo – World Urban Car
- Range Rover Velar – World Car Design of the Year
2017
- Jaguar F-Pace – World Car of the Year
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class – World Luxury Car
- Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman – World Performance Car
- Toyota Prius Prime – World Green Car
- BMW i3 – World Urban Car
- Jaguar F-Pace – World Car Design of the Year
2016
- Mazda MX-5 – World Car of the Year
- BMW 7 Series – World Luxury Car
- Audi R8 Coupe – World Performance Car
- Toyota Mirai – World Green Car
- Mazda MX-5 – World Car Design of the Year
2015
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class – World Car of the Year
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe – World Luxury Car
- Mercedes-AMG GT – World Performance Car
- BMW i8 – World Green Car
- Citroen C4 Cactus – World Car Design of the Year
2014
- Audi A3 – World Car of the Year
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class – World Luxury Car
- Porsche 911 GT3 – World Performance Car
- BMW i3 – World Green Car
- BMW i3 – World Car Design of the Year
2013
- Volkswagen Golf – World Car of the Year
- Porsche Boxster/Cayman – World Performance Car
- Tesla Model S – World Green Car
- Jaguar F-Type – World Car Design of the Year
2012
- Volkswagen Up! – World Car of the Year
- Porsche 911 – World Performance Car
- Mercedes-Benz S250 CDI – World Green Car
- Range Rover Evoque – World Car Design of the Year
2011
- Nissan Leaf – World Car of the Year
- Ferrari 458 Italia – World Performance Car
- Chevrolet Volt – World Green Car
- Aston Martin Rapide – World Car Design of the Year
2010
- Volkswagen Polo – World Car of the Year
- Audi R8 V10 – World Performance Car
- Volkswagen Golf, Passat, Polo BlueMotion – World Green Car
- Chevrolet Camaro – World Car Design of the Year
2009
- Volkswagen Golf (Mk6) – World Car of the Year
- Nissan GT-R – World Performance Car
- Honda FCX Clarity – World Green Car
- Fiat 500 – World Car Design of the Year
2008
- Mazda 2 – World Car of the Year
- Audi R8 – World Performance Car
- BMW 118d – World Green Car
- Audi R8 – World Car Design of the Year
2007
- Lexus LS460 – World Car of the Year
- Audi RS4 – World Performance Car
- Mercedes-Benz E320 – World Green Car
- Audi TT – World Car Design of the Year
2006
- BMW 3 Series – World Car of the Year
- Porsche Cayman S – World Performance Car
- Honda Civic Hybrid – World Green Car
- Citroen C4 – World Car Design of the Year
2005
- Audi A6 – World Car of the Year
