The new BMW iX3 has been named the 2026 World Car of the Year, as well as the 2026 World Electric Vehicle, while the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N is the World Performance Car and the Mazda 6e has claimed the World Car Design of the Year award.
In Australia this year, all three new models will be on sale The mid-size electric SUV is German and launched in the middle of a year; Korean mid size electric performance sedan coming to May; Chinese-made mid scale electric liftback from Japanese brand’s launch model expected at local showrooms in mid-2026.
Nevertheless, the Lucid Gravity electric SUV (2026 World Luxury Car) and the Nio Firefly electric hatch (2027 World Urban Car), though that latter is likely to be here at some point of time, are yet to confirm Australian release.
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It is the second year in a row since BMW has won World Car of the Year finalist and the German brand’s second WCOTY title since the 3 Series was awarded the award 20 years ago in 2006.
The BMW iX electric SUV was a top-three finalist in last year’s WCOTY award, and the iX3’s 2026 World EV title brings to 11 the total number of WCOTY awards won by BMW in the program’s 22-year history.
The iX3’s overall 2026 WCOTY win comes after wins by Kia in the last two years, announced at the New York motor show yesterday (April 1).
Mike Reichelt, head of the BMW’s Neue KlaSse electric vehicle platform, said ‘We are delighted by this outstanding result for the new BMW iX3, the first production model of that neue Klassa.’ The German-based company will be underpin all next-generation EVs from BMW and its successors were also on track to drive down their future generation models.
It’s the beginning of a new age for BMW in terms of design language, range and charging performance, driver assistance systems (and user experience) with first-ever BMW Panoramic iDrive as described by “The X3”. Our product portfolio will benefit from the innovations of the Neue Klasse, which has 40 new or updated models coming in the next year. ” , ‘I’m sure it is worth reading.
The BMW iX3 was chosen from an initial list of 58 contenders, and beat out two finalists in the Hyundai Palisade and Nissan Leaf.
A vehicle must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units a year to qualify for the WCOTY award, priced “below the luxury-car level” in their main markets”, and available in atleast two major markets (China, Europe; India), Japan Korea or Latin America and the USA) on at most two continents between January 1, 2025 and March 30, 2026.
The iX3 also claimed the 2026 World Electric Vehicle title, marking the first time a BMW model has done so. It topped a list of 43, and two finalists in the Mercedes-Benz CLA and Nissan Leaf. To be eligible for the World EV award, vehicles must be powered solely by one or more electric motors, and produced in volumes of at least 5000 units a year.
The Ioniq 6 N’s anointment is the second such award for Hyundai since 2026 World Performance Car, after a related Ionic 5 Na’ in 2024 and nine of the WCOTY awards won by the South Korean automaker.
It was chosen from an initial list of 20 contenders (all of which must be sold in volumes of at least 1000 units a year), and eventually edged out the BMW M2 CS and Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray.
While the US-built Lucid Gravity beat the Cadillac Vistiq and Volvo ES90 to the World Luxury Car award, eligibility requirements for which include volumes of at least 5000 units per year, the Firefly’s naming as 2026 World Urban Car marks the first WCOTY award victory for Chinese automaker Nio.
The Firefly defeated four contenders including the Hyundai Venue and Chevrolet Spark (also sold as the Baojun Yep Plus), both of which were finalists. To be eligible for World Urban Car, vehicles must be a maximum of 4.25 metres in overall length and produced in volumes of at least 5000 units annually.
The sixth and final WCOTY award, World Car Design of the Year, was won by the Mazda 6e (known as the EZ-6 in China), which beat out the Kia PV5 and Volvo ES90, and became the third Mazda model to win the award, as well as the fifth Mazda model to claim a WCOTY award.
When judged by a design panel of seven respected world designers, it was on the list of 90 eligible vehicles and World Car Person of the Year for BMW chairman Oliver Zipse.
In a jury of 98 automotive journalists from 33 countries, including childcareman.xyz co-founder and presenter Paul Maric, who selected the winning cars by secret ballot according to their evaluation of each vehicle eligible for WCOTY awards, they adjudicated the 2026 W COTY Awards.
BMW’s overall win this year ends a solid run in the WCOTY awards by Korean brands this decade, with Kia winning three times – in 2020 with the Telluride and in 2024 and 2025 with the EV9 and EV3, respectively – and Hyundai winning in 2022 (with the Ioniq 5) and 2023 (with the Ioniq 6).
The only non-Korean car to win World Car of the Year this decade was the Volkswagen ID.4 in 2021, though European, Japanese and Chinese brands have been well-represented in the other annual awards.
2026 WCOTY winners:
- World Car of the Year – BMW iX3
- World Luxury Car – Lucid Gravity
- World Performance Car – Hyundai Ioniq 6 N
- World Electric Vehicle – BMW iX3
- World Urban Car – Nio Firefly
- World Car Design of the Year – Mazda 6e/EZ-6
- World Car Person of the Year – Oliver Zipse
Thanks for reading BMW claims 2026 World Car of the Year Hyundai and Mazda also recognised
