It's not just awards season for the television and film industries. The new year brings new global and national car awards for the best of the best in categories ranging from heavy-duty pickup trucks to electric vehicles (EVs).
The North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY), World Car of the Year (WCOTY) and Women's Worldwide Car of the Year (WWCOTY) nominees have all been announced, and NACTOY now has chosen winners for 2024.
Even before the latest winner announcement, the Kia EV9 garnered nominations in all three major outfits, vying for Utility of the Year at NACTOY and WWCOTY, before winning both. It's also nominated for World Car of the Year, which will be announced at the New York International Auto Show on March 27.
The Kia EV9 is the only vehicle with a chance to take home awards in all three balloting contests.
North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year
The battery-electric EV9 beat out fellow finalists, the Genesis Electrified GV70 and the Hyundai Kona, in the NACTOY SUV category.
"The Kia EV9 should scare the stuffing out of other mass market brands. Kia is rapidly moving upscale with head-turning design and all the latest technology at prices below the premium brands. That's a recipe for success," NACTOY juror John McElroy of Autoline said in a press release.
Women's Worldwide Car of the Year
The Women's Worldwide Car of the Year award is given in Family Car, Large Car, SUV, Exclusive Car and 4×4 & Pickup categories. They are judged in their segments on safety, driving, technology, comfort, efficiency, environmental impact and value for money. This year the group included a total of 62 candidates.
Four of the five winners are sold in the United States including the Volvo EX30 (Family Car), the BMW 5 Series and i5 (Large Car), Kia EV9 (SUV) and Aston Martin DB12 (Exclusive Car). The Pickup category was the Volkswagen Amarok, a small truck sharing a platform with the South American-built Ford Ranger, sold mainly in Europe and South America.
From those five, the overall Women's Worldwide Car of the Year Award winner will be chosen and announced on March 8, International Women's Day.
This is the 14th edition of the awards presented by WWCOTY which consists of a team of 75 women motoring journalists from 52 countries on five continents. It is the only all-female jury in the automotive industry worldwide.
World Car of the Year
World Car of the Year celebrates the best models in a number of categories from the global market including World Performance Car, World Urban Car, World Luxury Car, World Electric Vehicle and World Car Design of the Year.
The overall award has more stringent criteria than category awards. Vehicles eligible for World Car of the Year must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units per year, must be priced below the luxury-car level in their primary markets, and must be on-sale in at least two major markets (China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America, USA) on at least two separate continents between January 1, 2023 and March 30, 2024.
The 10 World Car of the Year overall finalists were announced last week from a pool of 38 and include the BYD Seal/Atto 4, Ford Bronco, Hyundai Kona/Kona Electric, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia EV9, Mazda CX-90, Subaru Crosstrek, Toyota Prius, Volkswagen ID.7 and Volvo EX30. The category placement for each of the 2024 WCA eligible vehicles is currently being determined.
WCOTY category winners and the final awards will be given the morning of March 27 at the New York International Auto Show.
Those awards programs aren't the only ones to recognize the EV9 as one of the hottest vehicles on the market today. In the past six months the EV9 has one best buy awards from both Kelley Blue Book and the Car Connection. It was also given honors by Popular Science as one of the 50 Greatest Innovations of 2023 and won Best Luxury Car in the 2024 German Car of the Year awards.
In previous years, Kia's Hyundai Motor Group counterpart Hyundai came up a big winner during awards season with its Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 electric vehicles earning praise from balloting organizations worldwide.
Newsweek Senior Editor Eileen Falkenberg-Hull is a member of the Women's Worldwide Car of the Year and World Car of the Year juries.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jake Lingeman is the Managing Editor for the Autos team at Newsweek. He has previously worked for Autoweek, The Detroit ... Read more
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