The best car in the world-2023: Hyundai wins again, and BMW again in flight

The Hyundai model snatched three awards at once, including the main one. The Citroen hatch and a large electric sedan from a brand with Chinese roots were also recognized as the best.

The top ten finalists for the main World Car Of The Year (WCOTY; World Car of the Year) competition were announced in early February, and shortlists for the rest of the categories were published at the same time. In March, the participants who made it to the TOP-3 became known. Well, the winners were announced as part of the New York Auto Show that opened the day before. Recall, according to the rules, for the main award — the title of the best car in the world — models compete for the volume of production of at least 10,000 units per year, cars must be sold on at least two continents and at least two major markets (Europe, China, USA, Latin America, India, Japan or Korea). The best were chosen by a jury, which included more than a hundred journalists from 30 countries (the list also includes a representative from Russia).

Just like last year, Hyundai was a triumph: its electric sedan Ioniq 6< /b> was recognized not only by the World Auto 2023 (the model scored 796 points), but also the best in the Electric Car of the Year (795 points) and Design of the Year (283 points) categories. It is curious that last year's winner of the main award — the Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric cross-hatch — was also declared the most beautiful and the best among the «greens». But back to this season.

Hyundai Ioniq 6

Hyundai Ioniq 6 overtook Kia Niro (756 points) and BMW X1/iX1 ( 740 points). In the Electric Car of the Year category, the “Korean” left behind the large Lucid Air sedan (791 points; by the way, the Lucid brand has Chinese roots) and the BMW i7 (788 points). And in the Design of the Year category, Hyundai lost to the same Lucid Air and Range Rover (each scored 275 points).

Lucid Air

However, Lucid didn't go without an electric train award: Airrecognized as the best The premium car-2023 (797 points), it outperformed the BMW 7 Series/i7 (789 points) and Genesis G90 (768 points). It should be noted that last year the Bavarian concern was also unlucky — its models were able to reach the finals in the categories of the best premium and sports car of the year, but they did not become winners.

Kia EV6 GT and Citroen C3 1/2 Kia EV6 GT and Citroen C3 2/2

The electric SUV Kia EV6 GT (807 points) was declared the best sports car of 2023, while Toyota GR Corolla (767 points) and Nissan Z were left out (720 points). Finally, the City Car of the Year award went to a simple hatchback Citroen C3 (707 points), designed for emerging markets. The Chinese electric hatch Ora Funky Cat/Haomao (692 points; the Ora brand belongs to the Great Wall concern) and the Volkswagen Taigo/Nivus SUV (665 points) had a chance to become the best city dweller.