While one Car of the Year award has been decided, another is in the final stages of deciding its winner. The World Car of the Year has announced its top three finalists, and for the first time since 2022, they are all purely electric.

The top cars are the BYD Seal, Kia EV9 and Volvo EX30 – three vehicles that are due to arrive here sometime this year (the Seal is already here, of course). Weirdly, the BYD isn’t tipped to win the other category the trio are eligible in, the World Electric Car of the Year, its place in the top three being taken by the BMW i5 instead.

However, BYD has another car competing in the World Urban Car of the Year, the BYD Dolphin, which will do battle with the EX30 and the Lexus LBX. Elsewhere, the BMW i5 will tackle the W214 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and EQE SUV for the crown of World Luxury Car of the Year, while the World Performance Car of the Year category will see BMW’s M2 and XM do battle with Hyundai Ioniq 5 N – the hot version of 2022’s WCOTY winner.

Last but not least is the World Car Design of the Year, which contains a motley crew of desirable metal. These include Ferrari’s mould-breaking Purosangue SUV, the delightfully boxy Ford Bronco and the surprisingly stylish fifth-generation Toyota Prius.

This year, the winners will be announced on March 27 at the usual venue, the New York International Auto Show. The jury consists of over 100 journalists from 29 countries, who also named Adrian Newey – Red Bull Racing’s chief technical officer, who presided over the design of the all-conquering RB19 Formula 1 car – as its World Car Person of the Year.

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