The Hyundai Ioniq 6 has won the 2023 World Car of the Year award, announced at the New York motor show on Thursday.
The sleek electric saloon took the coveted top award from a shortlist of three finalists that also included the BMW X1/iX1 and Kia Niro.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 succeeds the Hyundai Ioniq 5 as the World Car of the Year. It also took the top spot in two other categories.
Founded in 2003, the World Car of the Year awards consist of seven categories, with winners announced in specific car classes, such as Electric, Luxury, Performance and Urban. There are also separate World Car Design and World Car Person of the Year awards.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 also took the top spot in the 2023 World Electric Car, beating the BMW i7 and Lucid Air.
In the 2023 World Luxury Car category, the Lucid Air beat competition from the Genesis G90 and BMW 7 Series/i7.
The Kia EV6 GT won the 2023 World Performance Car award against finalists that included the Nissan Z and Toyota GR Corolla.
This year was the first time that no European car featured among the three finalists for the World Performance Car award.
The 2023 World Urban Car award was won by the Citroën C3. It came in ahead of the Ora Funky Cat and Volkswagen Taigo (Nivus in South American markets).
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 was victorious in the 2023 World Car Design award, beating the Lucid Air and Range Rover among the finalists.
With nominations in three of the six categories, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Lucid Air were in the running for the most awards in 2023. The BMW i7 was nominated in two categories.
The World Car awards had already announced its 2023 World Car Person prior to the 2023 New York motor show. It was awarded to SangYup Lee, head of the Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center in Seoul, South Korea.
The World Car of the Year jury consists of more than 100 automotive journalists and editors worldwide. Votes are lodged anonymously and complied by accounting firm KPMG.
Cars eligible for the award must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 and be on sale in at least two major markets, on at least two continents.
Previous winners of the overall World Car of the Year award include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (2022), Volkswagen ID 4 (2021) Kia Telluride (2020), Jaguar I-Pace (2019) and Volvo XC60 (2018).