The Road to World Car 2023 and the World Car Finals powered by Brembo concluded with a triple win for for the Hyundai Motor Company when the winners were announced live at the New York International Auto Show.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 has won the overall 2023 World Car of the Year title, the 2023 World Electric Vehicle as well as the 2023 World Car Design of the Year awards.
This is the second consecutive triple win for the Hyundai Motor Group. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 was last year’s winner in the same three categories.
In addition, SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), was on hand at the awards ceremony to participate in a Q&A with media and receive his 2023 World Car Person of the Year trophy.
A jury of 100 distinguished international automotive journalists from 32 countries selected the winners by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each eligible vehicle as part of their on-going professional work. The vote results were tabulated by KPMG.
“We are thrilled to receive this prestigious honor two years in a row, which recognizes the tremendous talents and unrelenting efforts of everyone at Hyundai Motor Company to bring EVs like IONIQ 6 to market,” said Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company. “This honor reinforces our commitment to be a global leader in vehicle electrification and will serve to embolden our efforts as a smart mobility solutions provider.”
“We always want to connect with customers on an emotional level and with the design of the IONIQ 6 we have created truly one of a kind. The daring streamliner styling combines strong emotional appeal with aerodynamic efficiency to give exceptional range,” said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design Center. “Inside, we set-out to create a personal studio which offers the mindful space and calm functionality which, we believe, elevates EV design.”
All of the World Car Award trophies were created this year by legendary automotive designer Ian Callum’s design and engineering consultancy Callum. “The World Car Awards are held in the highest regard by the industry and as a recipient, I appreciate how much it means to a design team to have it proudly on display in the studio,” says Ian Callum. “Reimagining both the design and manufacture is a huge privilege and just the opportunity the team at Callum relish.”
In the overall World Car of the Year category, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 was chosen from an initial entry list of thirty (30) vehicles from all over the world then a short list of three finalists as announced on March 7th. The 2023 Top Three in the World finalists are the BMW X1 / iX1, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 and the Kia Niro.
The other awardees were Kia EV6 GT as World Performance Car, Lucid Air as World Luxury Car and Citroen3 as World Urban Car.
Vehicles eligible for the overall World Car of the Year award must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units/year, must be priced below the luxury-car level in their primary markets, 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 January 1, 2022 and March 30, 2023.
In the World Electric Vehicle category, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 was chosen from an initial entry list of twenty-one (21) vehicles from all over the world then a short list of three finalists as announced on March 7th. The 2023 Top Three in the World finalists are the BMW i7, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 and the Lucid Air.
Vehicles eligible for World Electric Vehicle award must be powered solely by one or more electric motors, must be produced in volumes of at least 5,000 units/year 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 within the period January 1, 2022 and March 30, 2023.
All vehicles eligible for other World Car award categories are automatically eligible for World Car Design of the Year award. This year there were seventy-eight (78) eligible vehicles in total.
A panel consisting of six highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each of the 78 candidates, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors’ final vote. The design experts are in alphabetical order: Ian Callum (United Kingdom – Director of Design, Callum), Gert Hildebrand (Germany – Owner Hildebrand-Design), Patrick le Quément (France – Designer and President of the Strategy Committee – The Sustainable Design School), Tom Matano (USA – Academy of Art University, Former Head of Design – Mazda), Victor Nacif (USA – Chief Creative Officer, Brojure.com and Design instructor, NewSchool of Architecture and Design) and Shiro Nakamura (Japan – CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.).
The short list of finalists was announced on March 7th. The 2023 Top Three in the World are the Hyundai IONIQ 6, the Land Rover Range Rover and the Lucid Air.
A complete list of previous winners in all categories, is available at web site.
The World Car Awards thanks Brembo for hosting the World Car Finals for the fifth year in a row. “Our heartfelt congratulations to the winners in each category as representatives of automotive excellence. We are honored to be associated with the World Car finals, an event that recognizes and celebrates innovation so meaningfully, and thrilled to be part of a community that shares our values and passion for making a difference,” said Daniele Schillaci, CEO of Brembo.
2023 marks the 18th year of the World Car Awards’ partnership with the New York International Auto Show.
“We salute this year’s finalists and are pleased to be part of the most important automotive awards program on the planet,” said New York Auto Show president, Mark Schienberg. “For nearly two decades the partnership between World Car and the New York Auto Show has recognized the very best the auto industry has to offer. We’re looking forward to once again co-hosting the awards ceremony during the opening of the 2023 Show in April. Congratulations and best of luck to all the finalists!”
The Road to the World Car Awards is an annual journey that follows 100 of our international jurors as they test-drive, and vote on, the eligible vehicles for the 2023 awards. The jurors’ road-test journey is captured virtually on World Car TV. The jurors provide viewers with reviews and commentary on the awards’ eligible vehicles in the six categories listed above.
