Now in its 18th year, the annual World Car of the Year (WCOTY) Awards for 2022 has 17 vehicles eligible provisionally, based on information available at this time. The list may be updated until December 1, 2021 when it becomes final, and no further changes can be made. The World Car Awards are administered by a not-for-profit association, under the guidance of a Steering Committee as well as a group of individual advisors.
The 2022 awards season and the ‘Road to the World Car Awards’ journey was to have officially started at the New York International Auto Show this month but the motorshow was cancelled. A new highlight of the 2022 awards program will be the debut of the World Electric Vehicle of the Year award. This new award, which supersedes the World Green Car award, is intended to recognize, support and celebrate the global transition to electrically-powered vehicles that is now underway and the efforts of automakers around the world in developing these climate-conscious vehicles.
The models eligible for WCOTY must be produced in volumes of at least 10,000 units/year; must be priced below the luxury-car level in their primary markets; and must be ‘on-sale’ in at least 2 major markets (eg China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America, or the USA) on at least two separate continents within the period January 1, 2021 and March 30, 2022.
For the 2022 event, there will again be categories as well for World Performance Car, World Urban Car, World Electric Vehicle and World Car Design of the Year, as well as World Luxury Car class, depending on type and pricing.
The eligible models on the current list for the 2022 WCOTY are:
Audi Q4 e-tron/Q5 Sportback e-tron
BMW i4
Citroen C5 X
Genesis G70
Honda Civic
Hyundai Ionic 5 | Hyundai Staria | Hyundai Tucson
Jeep Grand Cherokee/Grand Cherokee L
Kia EV6 | Kia Sportage
Lexus NX
Mitsubishi Outlander
Subaru BRZ | Subaru Outback
Toyota Corolla Cross | Toyota GR86
PREVIOUS OVERALL AWARD WINNERS
2021 – Volkswagen ID.4
2020 – Kia Telluride
2019 – Jaguar I-PACE
2018 – Volvo XC60
2017 – Jaguar F-PACE
2016 – Mazda MX-5
2015 – Mercedes-Benz C-Class
2014 – Audi A3
2013 – Volkswagen Golf
2012 – Volkswagen UP!
2011 – Nissan LEAF
2010 – Volkswagen Polo
2009 – Volkswagen Golf 7
2008 – Mazda2
2007 – Lexus LS460
2006 – BMW 3-Series
2005 – Audi A6
Volkswagen ID.4 is the third EV to win World Car of the Year title
