TORONTO, Canada – Tuesday, February 7, 2023 – For Immediate Release
The WORLD CAR FINALS POWERED BY BREMBO begins today with the announcement of the Top Ten and Top Five finalists in seven World Car Awards categories. The countdown ends on April 5 when the winners will be announced live at the 2023 New York International Auto Show during an awards ceremony. Today’s vote results have been tabulated by KPMG.
A jury of 100 distinguished international automotive journalists from 32 countries selected the finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each eligible vehicle as part of their professional work.
“We are on the cusp of an intense new era in mobility, in which Brembo is committed to interpreting performance in a new way. The path we have undertaken leads us to develop increasingly innovative and sustainable products, characteristics we share with the World Car Finals. We are proud to partner these prestigious awards for the fifth consecutive year, as they inspire excellence and leadership in the automotive industry.” says Daniele Schillaci, CEO.
The 2023 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) winner will be selected from the following top ten finalists chosen from an initial list of 30 contenders:
Alfa Romeo Tonale ~
BMW 2 Series Coupé
BMW X1 / iX1
Honda HR-V (NA) / ZR-V (JP, CH, ASEAN)
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Kia Niro
Mazda CX-60
Mercedes-Benz C
Nissan Ariya
Nissan Z
The top five finalists in the World Electric Vehicle category are:
BMW i7
Genesis GV60
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Kia Niro EV
Lucid Air
The 2023 World Luxury Car class has the following top five finalists:
BMW 7 Series / i7
Genesis G90
Land Rover Range Rover
Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Lucid Air
The 2023 World Performance Car top five finalists are:
BMW M4 CSL
Kia EV6 GT
Nissan Z
Porsche 911 (992) GT3 RS
Toyota GR Corolla
There were three entries only in the 2023 World Urban Car class. As such the three candidates automatically become finalists. They are:
Citroen C3
ORA Funky Cat / Haomao
Volkswagen Taigo/Nivus
All vehicles competing in the five categories above are eligible for the 2023 World Car Design of the Year award.
A design panel consisting of six highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, 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 five finalists chosen by the design panel for the jurors’ final vote are in alphabetical order:
Cadillac Lyriq
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Land Rover Range Rover
Lucid AIR
Nissan Z
The World Car PERSON of the Year was created in 2018 to recognize an individual who has made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry during the previous calendar year. That contribution could include a significant impact to their brand or company, or a significant safety, engineering, design or technical advancement of benefit to the industry or to consumers. This year’s top five finalists represent the very best and most accomplished men and women in the industry, in very personal and different ways. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD Co., Ltd
Dr. Stella Clarke, Research Engineer Open Innovations, BMW Group
SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC)
Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors
Naoyuki Sakamoto, Chief Engineer, GR Corolla, GAZOO Racing Company, Toyota Motor Corporation
The WORLD CAR FINALS POWERED BY BREMBO excitement will continue to build on Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 when the Top Three in the World are announced followed by the declaration of the winners in all six categories on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 live at the New York International Auto Show.
This year 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.
The World Car Awards program would not be possible without the support of our official partners: AITASTIC Research & Consult, BREMBO, the NEW YORK International Auto Show, KPMG and Newspress – our official media partner. Thank you to our partners.
