The World Car Awards (WCA) association has voted the Kia EV9 as the 2024 World Car of the Year.
Not only that, but the EV9 also scored the title of 2024 World Electric Vehicle, securing a fourth win for the Korean brand in the WCA’s 20-year history.
The results were decided by a jury of 100 international automotive journalists from 29 countries who all voted by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each eligible vehicle as part of their ongoing professional work.
To qualify for the WCA, a car must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units per year, must be priced below the luxury-car level in their primary countries, and must be “on sale” in at least two major markets (China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America, USA) on at least two separate continents at some time within the period of 1 January 2023 to 30 March 2024.
Alongside these vehicles, the WCA panel also decided who will be the 2024 World Car Person of the Year, bestowing this honour upon Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technology Officer, Adrian Newey.
“As Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, aerodynamicist Adrian Newey is the designer and driving force behind the RB19, the most dominant race car in the history of Formula One,” said the judges.
“In 2023, it won 21 of 22 races enabling Red Bull’s sixth and Max Verstappen’s third World Championships and establishing the design concept to be pursued by most of its competitors. After 35 years in Formula 1 and more than 200 victories for cars of his design, Newey is at the absolute peak of his spectacular career.”
World Car Awards winners
The winners and runners-up of the various WCA categories are detailed below.
2024 World Car of the Year – Kia EV9
- Runner up – BYD Seal
- Runner up – Volvo EX30
2024 World Luxury Car – BMW 5 Series/i5
- Runner up – Mercedes-Benz E-Class
- Runner up – Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV
2024 World Performance Car – Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
- Runner up – BMW M2
- Runner up – BMW XM
2024 World Electric Vehicle – Kia EV9
- Runner up – BMW i5
- Runner up – Volvo EX30
2024 World Urban Car – Volvo EX30
- Runner up – BYD Dolphin
- Runner up – Lexus LBX
2024 World Car Design of the Year – Toyota Prius
- Runner up – Ferrari Purosangue
- Runner up – Ford Bronco
2024 World Car Person of the Year – Adrian Newey (Red Bull Racing)
- Runner up – Andreas Preuninger (Porsche)
- Runner up – C.V. Raman (Maruti-Suzuki)
- Runner up – Lisa Reeves (Volvo Cars)
- Runner up – Stephan Durach (BMW)
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