Auto show award 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, and the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N claimed 2026 World Performance Car. (healthfieldtips.com) The BMW iX3 victory was decided by a panel of 98 automotive journalists, according to the show coverage. (healthfieldtips.com)
BMW’s new iX3 took the top prize at the 2026 World Car Awards in New York, and it also won World Electric Vehicle. (worldcarawards.com) The winners were announced April 1 at the New York International Auto Show, which ran April 1-12 at the Javits Center. Hyundai’s IONIQ 6 N won 2026 World Performance Car in the same ceremony. (worldcarawards.com) (bmwgroup.com) (worldcarawards.com) The World Car Awards said 98 automotive journalists from 33 countries chose the winners by secret ballot, with KPMG tabulating the results. The BMW iX3 beat finalists including the Hyundai Palisade and Nissan Leaf for the overall award. (worldcarawards.com) (kbb.com) (motoringresearch.com) This year’s results put battery-electric models at the center of the awards. The iX3 won the overall and electric categories, the IONIQ 6 N won the performance category, and the Lucid Gravity took World Luxury Car. (worldcarawards.com) (kbb.com) For BMW, the iX3 win also served as a public debut moment for its Neue Klasse program, the next generation of vehicles and software the company plans to spread across future models. BMW said the iX3 is the first Neue Klasse model and called the awards its 10th and 11th World Car titles. (bmwgroup.com) BMW said the iX3 offers up to 805 kilometers of range under the European WLTP test, charging of up to 400 kilowatts, and energy use as low as 15.1 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers. Kelley Blue Book reported the model is due in the United States in summer 2026 as a 2027 vehicle. (bmwgroup.com) (kbb.com) Hyundai’s performance win extended a recent streak for its N division. The World Car Awards said the IONIQ 6 N is Hyundai’s second World Performance Car winner after the IONIQ 5 N won the same category in 2024. (worldcarawards.com) Kelley Blue Book described the IONIQ 6 N as a track-focused version of Hyundai’s electric sedan with a zero-to-60 mph time of just over three seconds. The publication also said it is the only 2026 IONIQ 6 variant sold in the United States. (kbb.com) The rest of the 2026 winners filled out a mostly electric slate: Firefly won World Urban Car, and the Mazda 6e/EZ-6 won World Car Design of the Year. On the New York show floor, the biggest trophy went to BMW’s iX3. (worldcarawards.com)
