The world’s best car carries a BMW badge.
The historic badge sits on the all-new iX3 electric SUV, which has beaten a field of 57 other contenders to claim the world’s most respected new-car award.
The iX3 was named as the World Car of the Year award winner after a six-month process involving 98 judges from 33 countries.,
Some of the stand-outs are missing from Australian showrooms – the Lucid Gravity and Firefly – and one, the Mazda 6e, is still on the way.
Even so, the results from the 22nd running of the WCOTY contest are a solid reflection of the latest developments in global motoring and the growing importance of battery-electric vehicles.
It’s no surprise, then, that the iX3 was also named as World Electric Vehicle winner.
The strength of the WCOTY contest is that it does not favour high-priced and high-performance models from companies such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. At least 10,000 cars must be produced in a single year, below the luxury-car threshold in their primary markets, and contenders must be sold in at least two major markets – China, Europe, India, South Korea, Latin America, USA) on a last two continents.
The new BMW is the first of a new line-up of EV models under the German company’s Neue Klasse development program, which will include an all-new 3-Series contender before the end of the year.
The awards were announced at the New York Auto Show, which is helping to lead a global resurgence in major car shows.
Among the newcomers revealed at this year’s running of the show are a three-row Subaru people mover and a Hyundai off-road concept vehicle.
BMW is celebrating its latest award wins, which take its total of WCOTY honours to 11 including a previous overall success with the 3-Series in 2006.
There were two other grand-finals contenders in addition to the iX3, the Hyundai Palisade and Nissan Leaf.
World Car winner: BMW ix3
World Electric Vehicle: BMW ix3
World Luxury Car: Lucid Gravity
World Performance Car: Hyundai Ioniq 6 N
World Urban Car: Firefly
World Car Design: Mazda 6e