The road to the 2026 World Car of the Year will end in a few months, yet the juror panel has just narrowed down the list to the top ten (World Car of the Year) and top five (World Electric Vehicle, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car, and World Car Design of the Year) semi-finalists.
Initially selected from a list of 58 contenders, the 2026 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) shortlist comprises, in alphabetical order, the Audi Q5 / SQ5, BMW iX3, BYD Seal 6 DM-I, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Hyundai Palisade, Kia EV4, Kia EV5, Mercedes-Benz CLA, Nissan Leaf, and Toyota RAV4, and to be honest, picking the big winner from this list is very tricky for multiple reasons that we won’t delve into.
For the 2026 World Luxury Car category, the semi-finalists are the Audi A6 e-tron / S6 e-tron, Audi A6 / S6, Cadillac Vistiq, Lucid Gravity, and Volvo ES90. The BMW M2 CS, Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, Land Rover Defender OCTA, and Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro are fighting for the top spot in the 2026 World Performance Car category.
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