Touted as being “the number one automobile awards program on the planet,” the annual World Car Awards will be presented on April 5. The winners from each of the seven categories are going to be announced at the 2023 New York Auto Show. In the meantime, a jury of 100 car journalists from 32 countries has chosen the finalists after conducting assessments of each vehicle.
From an initial list of 30 contenders, the winner of the 2023 World Car of the Year (WCTOY) award will be chosen from the following 10 finalists:
- BMW X1 / iX1
- BMW 2 Series Coupe
- Alfa Romeo Tonale
- Honda HR-V / ZR-V
- Hyundai Ioniq 6
- Kia Niro
- Mazda CX-60
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
- Nissan Ariya
- Nissan Z
BMW also has a shot at winning the World Electric Vehicle category where the 2023 i7 xDrive60 will do battle with the following four EVs:
- Genesis GV60
- Hyundai Ioniq 6
- Kia Niro EV
- Lucid Air
In the World Luxury Car class, the 7 Series / i7 will go up against these models:
- Genesis G90
- Land Rover Range Rover
- Land Rover Range Rover Sport
- Lucid Air
As far as the World Performance Car category, BMW will be represented by the M4 CSL while the other vehicles are going to be:
- Kia EV6 GT
- Nissan Z
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS
- Toyota GR Corolla
There’s also a World Urban Car class, but it doesn’t contain any products from the BMW Group:
- Citroën C3
- Ora Funky Cat / Haomao
- Volkswagen Taigo / Nivus
The sixth category is for the World Car Design of the Year. All vehicles fighting in the aforementioned five categories were qualified to take part, and the five finalists are:
- Cadillac Lyriq
- Hyundai Ioniq 6
- Land Rover Range Rover
- Lucid Air
- Nissan Z
The final category is for the World Car Person of the Year and will be handed to one of the following five people:
- Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD Co., Ltd
- 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 (HMC)
- Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors
- Naoyuki Sakamoto, Chief Engineer, GR Corolla, GAZOO Racing Company, Toyota Motor Corporation
Before the winners will be announced on April 5 at NYIAS, the top three finalists will be revealed on March 7.
Source: World Car Awards
