World Car Awards 2027 kicks off with 56 cars in contention

The provisional list includes several cars already confirmed for Ireland or of particular relevance to Irish buyers, including the BMW i3, Cupra Raval, Hyundai Ioniq 3, Kia EV2, Lexus ES, Mazda CX-5, Mercedes-Benz GLC Electric and Volvo EX60.

What are the World Car Awards?

The World Car Awards is an independent international automotive awards programme decided by a jury of 100 motoring journalists from markets around the world. Ireland is represented on the jury by Shane O’ Donoghue, editor of CompleteCar.ie.

The 2027 programme represents its 23rd season, while independent media intelligence company AITASTIC has ranked World Car Awards as the most visible automotive awards programme globally for the 14th consecutive year, reaching more than 493 million people worldwide.

Rather than cars being assessed at a single event, jurors drive eligible models in their own markets throughout the year. There are also dedicated opportunities to evaluate contenders, including the annual LA Test Drives in November.

Which cars are eligible for 2027 World Car of the Year?

There are 56 cars on the initial provisional list for the main 2027 World Car of the Year award.

To qualify for that category, a vehicle must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units per year and be priced below the luxury-car level in its primary markets.

It must also be on sale in at least two of the programme’s designated major markets - China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America and the USA - covering at least two continents between 1 January 2026 and 19 March 2027.

As this is a provisional list, it may change as vehicle launches and on-sale dates are confirmed, but the contenders announced so far are:

BMW i3
Buick Electra E7
BYD Ti7
Changan Nevo Q05
Chery Q
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet Captiva EV/PHEV
Cupra Raval
Deepal S05
Deepal S07
DS Automobiles No.7
Exeed Exlantix ET
Exeed RX
GAC Aion UT
GAC Aion V
Geely EX2
Geely Starray EM-i
Hyundai Bayon
Hyundai Ioniq 3
Hyundai Tucson
iCAUR V23
Infiniti QX65
Jetour G700
Jetour T2
Kia EV2
Kia Seltos
Kia Syros EV
Kia Telluride
Leapmotor B10
Leapmotor C10
Leapmotor T03
Lepas L6 EV
Lepas L8 PHEV
Lexus ES
Lincoln Corsair
Lynk & Co 900
Mazda CX-5
Mazda CX-6e/EZ-60
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Electric
Mercedes-Benz GLC Electric
Mercedes-Benz GLA
MG4 EV Urban
Nissan Frontier Pro
Nissan NX8
Omoda 4
Onvo L90
Polestar 4 SUV
Renault Filante
Subaru Trailseeker
Subaru Uncharted
Volkswagen Atlas/Teramont Pro
Volvo EX60
Xpeng G6
Xpeng L03
Xpeng P7+
Zeekr 8X

It’s certainly a diverse field, ranging from familiar European, Japanese and Korean manufacturers to a large number of Chinese brands, several of which are either entering European markets or expanding their presence considerably. We expect a few of those new names to be in Ireland before the end of 2027.

Is World Car of the Year the only award?

No. World Car of the Year is the headline category, but the World Car Awards programme also includes World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design of the Year.

The candidates for those awards are assessed alongside the main World Car of the Year contenders, although different eligibility requirements apply to the individual categories.

There is also a World Car Person of the Year award, which recognises an individual considered to have made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry during the preceding year.

When will the finalists be announced?

The first results from the 2027 voting process are due in January.

At that point, the World Car Awards will announce the Top 10 finalists for World Car of the Year and the Top Five finalists in the World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design of the Year categories.

The World Car Person of the Year will then be announced in February.

At the beginning of March, the remaining vehicle fields will be reduced again with the announcement of the ‘Top Three in the World’ finalists in each category.

When will we know the 2027 World Car of the Year?

The winners will be announced at the New York International Auto Show in March 2027.

That will conclude what the organisers call the ‘Road to World Car 2027’, which begins with the publication of the provisional eligibility list above and continues through testing and voting by the jurors over the coming months.

Helps explain why Shane needs to drive so many test cars every year, doesn’t it?

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