The new all-electric BMW iX3 has been named best car in the world, winning the 2026 World Car of the Year award. Second place went to the Nissan Leaf, built in Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the UK.
The iX3’s win marks the eighth time in seven years that an all-electric car has been named World Car of the Year and ends a four-year run of dominance of the award by Kia and Hyundai.
However, there was success for one Korean brand, with the new Hyundai Ioniq 6 N – an all-electric sports car – being named 2026 World Performance Car.
Other World Car winners include two brands that will shortly be heading to the UK. The little Firefly, a new brand from Chinese car maker Nio, was named 2026 World Urban Car, and is expected to go on sale in the UK later this year. Also, the Lucid Gravity won the 2026 World Luxury Car award – Lucid is expected to launch in the UK with the smaller Cosmos model in the coming years.
The BMW iX3 was also named 2026 World Electric Car, with outgoing BMW CEO Oliver Zipse receiving the 2026 World Car Person of the Year trophy. The final winner of the Awards – announced at the New York International Auto Show – was the new Mazda 6e which was named 2026 World Car Design of the Year.
Mike Reichelt, head of BMW’s Neue Klasse project, collected the award in New York and commented: “We are delighted by this outstanding result for the BMW iX3, the first production model of the Neue Klasse. The iX3 marks the beginning of a new era for BMW in terms of design language, range and charging performance, driver assistance systems, and the user experience with the first-ever BMW Panoramic iDrive.
“Above all, the iX3 stands for the next generation of sheer driving pleasure, powered by the Heart of Joy. With 40 new or updated models coming in the next year, the innovations of the Neue Klasse will benefit our entire product portfolio.”
Now in its 22nd year, the World Car Awards are voted on by 98 journalists from 33 different countries. The Independent’s Steve Fowler represents the UK and is on the World Car Awards Steering Committee.
Previous World Car of the Year winners include the Kia EV3, Kia EV9, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Volkswagen ID. 4 and Jaguar I-Pace.
