The Road to the 2020 World Car Awards concluded this week with the declaration of a double win for Kia Motor Corp. The KIA Telluride is the 2020 World Car of the Year and the KIA Soul EV is the 2020 World Urban Car.
“Everyone at Kia is truly honored to receive not just one, but two awards from the World Car Awards judging panel,” said Thomas Schemera, executive vice president and head of product division at Kia Motors Corp. “This is one of the hardest-fought competitions in the global automotive industry, proving that the Telluride and Soul EV are both truly outstanding vehicles. These accolades are testament to the talents and efforts of a worldwide team, who all strive to create desirable, high-quality and practical cars that drivers love.”
The KIA Telluride was chosen from an initial World Car of the Year entry list of 29 vehicles from all over the world while the KIA Soul EV was chosen from an initial entry list of eight World Urban Car contenders. Both vehicles were Top Three in the World finalists in their respective categories as announced on March 3.
Vehicles were selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprising 86 prominent automotive journalists from 24 countries around the world. Each juror was appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility and influence. The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots.
There were several stops along the road for the 2020 program, including one in Los Angeles in November for the sixth-annual L.A. Test Drives event hosted by ZF.
Then, the World Car Finals were launched live in New Delhi, India, from the Delhi auto show on Feb. 5, when the Top 10 and Top Five finalists in five World Car Awards categories were announced. The World Car Finals continued with the announcement of the Top Three in the World finalists on March 3.
2020 marks the 15th year of the World Car Awards partnership with the New York International Auto Show. The show has been rescheduled until Aug. 28 to Sept. 6, 2020. The media preview days will take place on August 26th and 27th (credentials required). The World Car Awards will launch its 2021 program at this time instead of in Paris. The launch will include a preliminary list of eligible vehicles for the 2021 season.
The Global Trends Report, produced annually by Cision Insights and partner Autoneum, is scheduled to be released later this year in lieu of the usual presentation during the media breakfast at the New York International Auto Show. The report is the culmination of research and insights across the past six months. Autoneum CEO, Matthias Holzammer said, “Delighting car makers all around the world with our products is what we are constantly striving for. It is thus a great sign of recognition that the majority of the top three award finalists are counting on our expertise and innovativeness in acoustic and thermal management. Once again, the World Car Awards prove that the road towards success leads through Autoneum!”
The World Car Awards program would not be possible without the support of official partners: Autoneum, Brembo, Cision Insights, KPMG, Newspress, the New York International Auto Show and ZF.
To view a video on this year’s winners, click here: https://youtu.be/7FBOfuL6PKk
For a complete list of previous winners, visit: www.worldcarawards.com
