Category-wise winners of the 2026 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year (WWCOTY) have been announced. These will now compete for the WWCOTY 2026 award, the winner of which will be disclosed on March 5, ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.
- India-bound Mercedes-Benz CLA wins the Best Large Car award
- Lamborghini Temerario crowned as the Best Performance Car
- Renault gets the Best Tech award, while Ford bags the Sandy Myhre Award
Autocar India’s Renuka Kirpalani (consulting editor – videos) and Mugdha Mishra (editor – auto media strategy) were a part of the 84 women jurors who selected the category winners.
2026 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year category winners
The overall WWCOTY 2026 winner will be announced on March 5, 2026
The 15th edition of WWCOTY had six categories for passenger cars – Compact Car, Compact SUV, Large Car, Large SUV, Performance Car and 4x4 – the winners of which are as follows:
2026 WWCOTY Category Winners | |
Category | Winner |
Best Compact Car | Nissan Leaf |
Best Compact SUV | Skoda Elroq |
Best Large Car | Mercedes-Benz CLA |
Best Large SUV | Hyundai Ioniq 9 |
Best Performance Car | Lamborghini Temerario |
Best 4x4 | Toyota 4Runner |
Talking about the category winners, Kirpalani said, “This year, the winners are all consistent with the ones I voted for, except for the 4x4 category. With the spread of regions and launches that do not happen often, I’m pleased because they are all worthy winners.”
In addition to this, Renault bagged the Best Tech award for developing electric platforms such as AmpR Small and AmpR Medium while also democratising Formula 1 technology. Ford won the Sandy Myhre Award for sustained focus on gender equality within its corporate structure.
2026 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year judgment criteria
New models launched in 2025 in at least two continents or 40 countries were eligible
For the 15th edition of the WWCOTY awards, the category winners were chosen from a total of 55 cars. To be eligible for nomination, the cars had to be new models launched in at least two continents or 40 countries between January 2025 and December 2025.
2026 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year jury
84 women motoring journalists from 54 countries chose the winners
The 2026 Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year jury comprises 84 women motoring journalists from 54 countries. As mentioned earlier, our own Renuka Kirpalani and Mugdha Mishra are a part of it.
“As jurors, we focused on practicality, comfort, safety and how technology has been used to enhance the driving experience,” said Mishra. “The winning cars have brought to the fore innovation, whether through electrification, intelligent design or engineering,” she added.