Back in October last year, the 2024 World Car Awards released its candidates for its coveted World Car of the Year title. A total of 36 candidates came from different major markets. Interestingly, 16 of those came from China, 8 from Japan, 5 from Europe, 4 from Korea, and 3 from the US.

At the recently concluded New York International Auto Show, WCA has finally announced the winner of the World Car of the Year – and surprise, surprise, it’s the Kia EV9. The 2024 Top Three in the World finalists were the BYD Seal, the Kia EV9, and the Volvo EX30.

Kia’s latest award is their fourth in the World Car Awards’ 20-year history, as the EV9 was also awarded the 2024 World Electric Vehicle. In 2020, Kia got its first World Car of the Year title with the Telluride SUV, while the Kia Soul EV won the World Urban Car category in the same year. More recently, the Kia EV6 GT won the World Performance Car title in 2023.

Notably, it’s also the third straight year that Hyundai-Kia’s E-GMP platform won the World Car of the Year award, as Hyundai won back-to-back with the Ioniq 5 and 6 in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Speaking of the Ioniq 5, its high-performance variant called the Ioniq 5 N bagged this year’s World Performance Car – the second-straight year for an E-GMP platform vehicle.

A jury of 100 distinguished international automotive journalists from 29 countries selected the winners by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each eligible vehicle as part of their ongoing professional work. The vote results were tabulated by KPMG.

“We are hugely honored that the 2024 EV9 has been named the World Car of the Year. This triumph is a testament to our unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and design excellence. The Kia EV9’s continued success will drive us to keep delivering exceptional vehicles that redefine the driving experience for customers around the world,” said Ho Sung Song, President and CEO of Kia.

Meanwhile, other awardees include the BMW 5 Series / i5 as the 2024 World Luxury Car, Volvo EX30 as the 2024 World Urban Car, the Toyota Prius as the 2023 World Car Design of the Year, and Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey as 2024 World Car Person of the Year.