These are your winners of the 2026 World Car Awards

Just like every other year, a jury of motoring journalists comes together to decide on which cars deserve recognition at the World Car Awards, including the coveted World Car of the Year award.

For a vehicle to be eligible for this, these cars must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units per year, be priced below the luxury car segment in their primary markets, and be sold in at least two major markets on at least two separate continents.

For the 2026 World Car of the Year award, that honor goes to the BMW iX3 (834 points), besting the Nissan Leaf (772 points) and Hyundai Palisade (769 points). This is the first time in four years a brand has beaten out the Koreans, with the Kia EV5 winning 2025, the Kia EV9 for 2024, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 for 2023, and the Ioniq 5 for 2022.

READ: The all-new BMW iX3 is a bold step forward for its EVs

It’s the biggest overhaul in BMW’s history, with its Neue Klasse platform and architecture, allowing for huge range gains (up to 805km) compared to its predecessors, and more. In fact, it impressed so much that it also bagged the World Electric Vehicle award with 828 points, beating the Nissan Leaf (791 points) and Mercedes-Benz CLA (776 points).

Here are the other winners and the runners-up in their respective categories:

World Luxury Car

• 1st – Lucid Gravity (786 points)
• 2nd – Volvo ES90 (754 points)
• 3rd – Cadillac Vistiq (748 points)

World Performance Car

• 1st – Hyundai Ioniq 6 N (754 points)
• 2nd – BMW M2 CS (777 points)
• 3rd – Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray (766 points)

World Urban Car

• 1st – Firefly (772 points)
• 2nd – Hyundai venue (727 points)
• 3rd – Baojun Yep Plus / Chevrolet Spark EUV (705 points)

World Car Design of the Year

• 1st – Mazda 6e / EZ-6 (321 points)
• 2nd – Volvo ES90 (310 points)
• 3rd – Kia PV5 (284 points)

^{Photos from manufacturers and Sam Surla}