The 2025 World Car of the Year award has been announced, and the winner is… the fully electric Kia EV3 compact crossover.
It’s certainly an impressive win, especially when competing against the BMW X3 and Hyundai Inster (also known as the Casper Electric) in the final shootout. But we’re more impressed by the fact that it’s actually the second year in a row for Kia to grab this title!
The Korean carmaker also won the award last year with the Kia EV9, and before that, the Kia Telluride took the crown in 2021. That’s six wins for the Korean carmaker in the award’s 21-year run.
The Kia EV3 was crowned victorious after fending against a pool of 52 other global contenders. But what does it actually take to win?
To even be in the running, the model has to be actively produced with at least 10,000 units per year, must be priced below luxury cars in their respective markets, and must be on sale in at least two major markets (China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America, and USA) between January 1, 2024 and March 30, 2025.
Despite not winning the overall title, the Hyundai Inster Electric still took home the award for the 2025 World Electric Car, surprisingly beating even the Kia EV3 in this category.
Aside from the overall winner, the awards also crowned other winners in various categories, including the 2025 World Luxury Car, 2025 World Performance Car, 2025 World Urban Car, and 2025 World Car Design of the Year.
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In the World Luxury Car category, The Volvo EX90 emerged champion for 2025 against the Porsche Macan and Porsche Panamera. The hybrid Porsche 911 Carrera GTS meanwhile took home the win in the 2025 World Performance Car category, beating out the BMW M5 and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.
The 2025 World Urban Car award was given to the tiny BYD Seagull, which recently made its debut in Europe as the Dolphin Mini. Meanwhile, the 2025 World Car Design of the Year award was won by the lovable Volkswagen ID.Buzz – to nobody’s surprise. Other nominees in the design award included the Kia EV3 and the all-new Land Cruiser.
