With the final winners due to be announced on April 1 at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), the shortlist for the greatest vehicles to go on sale this year has been announced as part of the World Car Awards (WCA) - and BMW's boss has already picked up a top gong too.
Can we start with the cars?
The WCA process involves 98 of the top automotive journalists from all over the world, as the name suggests, who whittle down the contenders into the hallowed shortlist - and our very own Shane O' Donoghue is one of those judges.
He, along with his fellow critics, have come up with the top threes for each of the six WCA categories. This includes the most coveted award of the lot, the straightforward World Car of the Year (WCotY) prize for which all the vehicles under consideration were competing.
And it means the winner of the main title will be one from the BMW iX3, the Nissan Leaf and the Hyundai Palisade - the latter of which is not a model we get in Europe, but then that's the whole point of these awards being for WCotY, isn't it?
OK, but other cars can win in the other categories too?
Indeed they can. In fact, the iX3 and the Leaf might well end up with two awards if either of them takes the overall title, because they're both competing in the World Electric Vehicle class with the Mercedes-Benz CLA.
Shortlisted for the World Luxury Car category were the Cadillac Vistiq, Lucid Gravity and Volvo ES90, while the World Performance Car of the year for 2026 will be won by one of the BMW M2 CS, Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray or Hyundai Ioniq 6 N.
In the World Urban Car section, the Baojun Yep Plus/Chevrolet Spark EUV, the Firefly (an EV from Nio, which bears a passing resemblance to the extinct Honda e) and the Hyundai Venue are battling it out for the accolade, while the World Car Design of the Year is a straight fight between the Kia PV5, the Mazda 6e/EZ-6, and the ES90 again - Volvo in the running for two prizes with this car, albeit not the main gong.
Any words from the team involved?
Mark Schienberg, the president of NYIAS, said: "The announcement of the finalists is an important moment for the global automotive industry as it represents one of the most respected honours in our business.
"The anticipation surrounding this year's contenders reflects the innovation, performance and vision shaping the future of mobility, and we extend our congratulations to the finalists and to the World Car organisation for its continued leadership.”
The WCA also praises its official partners in organising the event, which this year are AITASTIC Research & Consult, Brembo, NYIAS, KPMG and Newspress.
You mentioned a BMW bigwig had already won an award...
Timed to coincide with the shortlist of cars, WCA announced that Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management for BMW AG, has been named 2026 World Car Person of the Year.
Zipse has led BMW since August 2019 and is said to have guided "one of the world's most respected premium automotive groups through a period of profound technological and strategic transformation”.
He first joined the company in 1991 and has remained there ever since throughout his entire professional career, although he is soon leaving the company - having overseen the launch of the BMW Neue Klasse range of vehicles, of which the iX3 is one of the leading proponents.
Zipse said of his win: "I am honoured to be named World Car Person of the Year 2026. To me, this is much more than just an award for my tenure as BMW's CEO: it is a recognition of our strategic course and the courage we have shown to pursue the company's biggest project ever, the Neue Klasse.
"And, most importantly, it is an award for all BMW employees. Therefore, I would like to thank all our associates: for their dedication, their passion, and their pioneering spirit. The Neue Klasse is a prime example of the remarkable achievements that can be made possible by this collective effort.”
Zipse joins a respected rollcall of previous winners, including BYD's executive vice-president (VP) Stella Li (2025), Adrian Newey (2024) of the Aston Martin F1 team and Akio Toyota, president and CEO of Toyota (2021).
Other winners were SangYup Lee, executive VP of Hyundai Genesis (2023), Luc Donkerwolke, executive VP for design and chief creative officer in the Hyundai Motor Group (2022), Carlos Tavares, CEO of the PSA Group (2020), the late Sergio Marchionne, CEO of FCA, and chairman and CEO of Ferrari (2019), and inaugural winner Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of the Volvo Car Group (2018).