Kia EV9 bags World Car of the Year, World Electric Vehicle of the year titles for 2024

The Kia EV9 has bagged the 2024 World Car of the year award at the ongoing New York Motor Show. Apart from the top honour, Kia’s flagship EV also took home the World Electric Vehicle of the year award. The EV9 debuted globally in March 2023 and is, in fact, slated to go on sale in India later this year. Incidentally, the EV9 was also the winner of the 2024 Women's Worldwide Car of the Year award that was announced earlier this month.

1. Kia EV9 bags World Car and Electric Car of the year awards
2. Hyundai Ioniq 5 N wins World Performance Car of the year award
3. Volvo EX30 wins World Urban Car of the year award

In the overall World Car of the year category, the EV9 made it to the top three out of a list of 38 vehicles chosen from all over the world. The other two finalists were the BYD Seal and the Volvo EX30. The World Car Awards recognised the Kia EV9’s innovative design, spacious seven-seater interior and competitive price point before picking it as the winner.

This also marks Kia’s fourth and fifth titles at the World Car Awards, having previously bagged the World Car of the year award for the Telluride in 2020, the World Urban Car of the year award for the Soul EV in 2020 and with the Kia EV6 GT taking World Performance Car of the year in 2023.

Meanwhile, the new BMW i5 / 5 Series beat the Mercedes E-Class and EQE SUV to be crowned as the World Luxury Car of the year. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N bagged the Performance Car of the year award, beating the BMW M2 and XM. The Volvo EX30 was crowned the World Urban Car of the year and finally, the new Toyota Prius bagged the title of the World Car Design of the year.

WCOTY Jury and criteria

The World Car of the year title is selected by a jury of 100 distinguished automotive journalists representing 29 countries, including Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, Autocar India, and Renuka Kirpalani, consulting video editor, Autocar India.

Vehicles eligible for the overall World Car of the Year award must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units per 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 and USA) on at least two separate continents within the January 1, 2023 and March 30, 2024 period.