The annual World Car of the Year Awards were announced yesterday at the New York Auto Show (remember auto shows?) and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 – the company’s all-electric city car – won the coveted award.

The IONIQ 5 was chosen from a list of 28 vehicles that were eligible for the prize. Of these, the jury chose three finalists for the top spot and announced those on 15 March. Interestingly, all three these finalists were electric. They are the Kia EV6, IONIQ 5 and the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was also chosen as the World Electric Car of the Year and the World Car Design of the Year. The brand’s Chief Creative Officer and President for Design, Luc Donkerwolke, who made his name at Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley and who now is head of design at Hyundai, was chosen the 2022 World Car Person of the Year, giving Hyundai four trophies at the Awards.

Hyundai South Africa has confirmed that the IONIQ 5 is on its “long-range radar” and that it could possibly reach South African shores in the distant future.

Said Jaehoon Chang, the President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company: “IONIQ 5 represents a pivotal achievement for us as we pioneer a new generation of smart mobility solutions with its innovative E-GMP platform technologies, exceptional performance and disruptive approach to design and space. Our game-changing EV has made a strong impact on increasingly eco-conscious and demanding consumers around the world, and its success supports the acceleration of electrification of the automotive industry. The pace of change at Hyundai will continue unabated through the rest of 2022 as we will soon be adding to our award-winning IONIQ range.”

The other winners at the 2022 World Car of the Year Awards were the electric Audi E-Tron GT as the 2022 World Performance Car of the Year, the electric Mercedes-Benz EQS as the 2022 World Luxury Car of the Year and the Toyota Aygo Cross as the 2022 World Urban Car of the Year.

There are 102 judges for the World Car of the Year Awards. All are journalists and come from 33 countries across the world. South Africa is well represented with four journalists, including Hannes Oosthuizen (cars.co.za), Brenwin Naudi (Times Live, Sowetan), Lerato Matebese (TopGear) and Charleen Clarke (Focus on Trucking). Charleen is the only journalist who also acts as a judge on the World Truck of the Year Awards.

This is the fourth time that an all-electric car has won the World Car of the Year Awards. In 2011, the Nissan LEAF made waves as the first mass produced electric car to win. In 2019 the Jaguar I-PACE won and in 2021 the Volkswagen ID.4 took home the silverware.

You can download a full list of the previous winners (World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design) here: (PREVIOUS WINNERS)