Electric cars dominate World Car Awards 2026 finalists

Six out of 10 cars shortlisted are full EVs, while three others are plug-in hybrids

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The British-built Nissan Leaf has made the shortlist for World Car of the Year 2026 (Nissan)

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The finalists for the prestigious World Car Awards have been revealed, with electrified models dominating the shortlist for 2026.

Once again, it’s Korean models that lead the way, with nominations for Hyundai’s Ioniq 9 SUV and Kia’s EV4 and EV5. Kia has won the World Car of the Year award for the past two years, with its EV9 (in 2024) and EV3 (in 2025). Meanwhile, the Hyandua Ioniq 5 andIoniq 6 were overall winners in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Kia has won the past two World Car of the Year awards and the EV5 (pictured) and EV4 are shortlisted this year (Kia)

The British-built Nissan Leaf has been shortlisted for the World Car of the Year award too, alongside BMW’s new iX3, its first in a new generation of ‘Neue Klasse’ EVs, and the new Mercedes CLA.

Three plug-in hybrid models have also been nominated: the new BYD Seal 6 DM-i, the latest version of the Toyota RAV4 and the Audi Q5 (with the petrol-only S5 jointly nominated), while the other finalist is the Hyundai Palisade.

Land Rover’s powerful Defender Octa SUV has made the shortlist for World Performance Car, alongside more traditional sporting models BMW’s M2 CS, the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 6 N and Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro.

Britain's Land Rover Defender OCTA has been nominated in the World Performance Car category (Land Rover)

World Luxury Car finalists are the Audi A6, Cadillac Vistiq, Lucid Gravity and Volvo ES90, while World Urban Car contenders are the Alfa Romeo Junior, Baojun Yep Plus / Chevrolet Spark EUV, Firefly, Hyundai Venue and Wuling Binguo / Ari Pol.

World Electric Car finalists include many of the contenders for the overall World Car of the Year award: the BMW iX3, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Mercedes-Benz CLA and Nissan Leaf, along with the Audi A6 e-tron.

Kia’s new PV5 all-electric van has made the shortlist for World Car Design of the Year along with the Firefly, Lynk & Co 08, Mazda 6e and Volvo ES90.

The top three models in each category to make it through to the finals will be announced via World Car TV on Tuesday 2 March, with the winners revealed live at the New York International Auto Show on 1 April. The 21st year World Car Award winners were revealed at the New York Show in 2025.

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Electric cars dominate World Car Awards 2026 finalists

Six out of 10 cars shortlisted are full EVs, while three others are plug-in hybrids

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