NY Auto Show winners
At the New York Auto Show the BMW iX3 won both 2026 World Car of the Year and World Electric Vehicle of the Year, while the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N captured 2026 World Performance Car honors. ( ) The iX3 double‑award was decided by a 98‑journalist panel; coverage highlighted the IONIQ 6 N’s driver‑focused EV setup and motorsport‑inspired engineering. ( )
The BMW iX3 took the top prize at the World Car Awards in New York, and then won the electric category too. (worldcarawards.com) The winners were announced April 1 at the New York International Auto Show, which ran April 1-12 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. World Car Awards said its 2026 results were chosen by 98 automotive journalists from 30 countries. (worldcarawards.com) (tsnn.com) Hyundai’s IONIQ 6 N won 2026 World Performance Car, while Lucid Gravity won World Luxury Car, Firefly won World Urban Car, and Mazda 6e/EZ-6 won World Car Design of the Year. BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse was also named 2026 World Car Person of the Year. (worldcarawards.com) The iX3 result puts an electric sport utility vehicle at the center of an awards program that has often split its biggest honors across fuel types and body styles. World Car Awards called it BMW’s second overall World Car of the Year win and BMW’s first World Electric Vehicle win. (worldcarawards.com 1) (worldcarawards.com 2) For Hyundai, the IONIQ 6 N award extends a recent run for its N performance division after the IONIQ 5 N won the same category in 2024. Hyundai said the 2026 win brought the company’s total to nine World Car Awards in the program’s 22-year history. (worldcarawards.com) (hyundai.com) BMW said the iX3 is the first production model on its Neue Klasse platform, the company’s next-generation electric architecture for batteries, software, and chassis systems. USA Today reported the iX3 is expected to reach the U.S. market in summer 2026. (press.bmwgroup.com) (usatoday.com) Hyundai described the IONIQ 6 N as a battery-electric performance sedan developed around track driving, drift functions, and software that changes how the car delivers power and sound. In plain terms, it is an electric car tuned to feel more like a traditional performance model when a driver pushes it hard. (hyundai.com) The New York awards did not settle which company builds the best car in every segment, but they did give BMW the broadest win of the week: the overall trophy and the electric one in the same ceremony. (worldcarawards.com)
