Annual awards seasons don't really seem to have a start or an end these days, but one of the most significant gongs in the car industry is commencing its six-month selection process this month. More than 100 jurors from 30 countries across the globe are starting the process of finding the World Car of the Year 2024, and the winner will be revealed at the New York International Auto Show at the end of March next year.
This year's World Car Awards contest sees our very own Shane O' Donoghue participate in the judging for the first time, so there will be more relevance to the Irish market than ever throughout the selection process.
Long list of contenders
For 2024, the judges have come up with a list of candidates for the awards, all of which are cars that have been launched between January 2022 and 30 March 2023, and that have sold more than 10,000 units in at least two major markets, such as the EU, USA, China, Japan, Korea, India or Latin America. Among the 60-plus eligible cars are Irish-market models such as the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class - both of which are launching as brand-new generations this year - the BMW XM, Toyota Prius, Volkswagen ID. Buzz, Peugeot 408, Hyundai Kona and BYD Atto 3.
The Atto 3 leads a strong list of Chinese contenders that also includes BYD's own Seal and Dolphin models, while manufacturers such as GWM, HiPhi, Hongqi, NIO, Omoda/Chery, WEY, XPeng and Zeekr are all included, too.
The start of judging proper takes place in November, when the World Car Awards gathers potential finalists at its annual test drives event in Los Angeles.
After that, the 'World Car Finals Powered by Brembo' takes place in February 2024. There, the top 10 finalists will be announced, as will the top-five finalists in five other categories: World Electric Vehicle, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design of the Year.
From there, the Top Three in the World finalists will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show on 26 February, while the grand final, where the category winners and overall World Car of the Year will be announced, takes place at the New York International Auto Show on 27 March next year.
World Car Awards history
The first winner of the World Car of the Year prize was the third-generation Audi A6, while the two following years also saw saloons take the top prize - the BMW 3 Series (E90) and Lexus LS 460. After that, hatchbacks ruled the roost, with the Mazda2, Volkswagen Golf Mk6 and Polo Mk5 taking the main prize in consecutive years, while the Nissan Leaf took the title in 2011, becoming the first electric World Car of the Year in the process.
More hatches followed, with the Volkswagen up!, Golf Mk7 and Audi A3 Mk3 all sealing victory for the Volkswagen Group once more, while the saloon made a comeback in 2015 when the W205-generation Mercedes C-Class won. The Mazda MX-5 Mk4 is still the only sports car to have won the top prize, which it did in 2016, while the Jaguar F-Pace was the first SUV to win the overall prize the following year. The Volvo XC60 followed, before Jaguar won again with the all-electric I-Pace, which itself was followed by the US-market Kia Telluride SUV as winner in 2020. The Volkswagen ID.4 became the third EV to take the main prize, and most recently Hyundai has taken two wins in a row with the electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6.
Since 2006, the World Car Awards have also handed out Performance Car and Design awards, while a Green Car award was delivered from 2006-2019, to be replaced by the World Electric Vehicle prize in 2022. Two more awards - World Luxury Car and World Urban Car - were added in 2014 and 2017, respectively.
The big winner in 2023 was the Hyundai Ioniq 6. Not only was it World Car of the Year, but it also scooped the EV and Design prizes, while the Lucid Air was the Luxury winner and the Citroen C3 (which is built for the Indian and Latin American markets and is different from the one we get in Ireland) took the Urban Car award.
With our own editor taking part in the judging process, we'll keep you up to date on the contenders over the next six months.