The all-electric BMW iX3 has been awarded the 2026 World Car of the Year title, beating the Nissan Leaf, which is built in Sunderland, UK, into second place. This marks the eighth time in seven years that an electric vehicle has won the prestigious award, ending a four-year winning streak by Kia and Hyundai.
Other winners at the New York International Auto Show included the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, which took the World Performance Car award, and the Nio Firefly, named World Urban Car. The Firefly is expected to go on sale in the UK later this year. The Lucid Gravity won World Luxury Car, with Lucid planning to launch in the UK with the smaller Cosmos model in the coming years.
The BMW iX3 also won the World Electric Car category, while outgoing BMW CEO Oliver Zipse received the World Car Person of the Year trophy. The Mazda 6e was named World Car Design of the Year. Mike Reichelt, head of BMW's Neue Klasse project, collected the award, describing the iX3 as the beginning of a new era for BMW in terms of design, range, and charging performance.
Now in its 22nd year, the World Car Awards are voted on by 98 journalists from 33 countries. Previous winners include the Kia EV3, Kia EV9, Hyundai Ioniq 6, and Jaguar I-Pace.
