The World Car of the Year 2025 finalists have been announced, including the cars competing in each of the World Car Awards’ respective categories — World Electric Vehicle, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design of the Year. Here’s a closer look at the cars vying for gold in each category…
2025 World Car of the Year
Chosen from an initial 52 contenders, the 10 finalists vying for top honours at the 2025 World Car Awards are an eclectic bunch, with the list comprising a variety of vehicles — from a value-oriented hatchback to a go-anywhere SUV … and everything in between, including a sports car!
- Audi A5/S5
- BMW X3
- Ford Mustang
- Hyundai Inster/Casper Electric
- Kia EV3
- Mini Cooper Electric
- Suzuki Swift
- Toyota Camry
- Toyota Land Cruiser/Land Cruiser 250 (Prado)
- Volkswagen Tiguan/Tayron
In addition to the cars competing in the World Car of the Year category, World Car Awards has also announced the top-five finalists in the World Electric Vehicle, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car Design of the Year categories.
2025 World Electric Vehicle
To make the top-five in the World Electric Vehicle category, the following EVs had to best 31 contenders.
- Hyundai Inster/Casper Electric
- Kia EV3
- Porsche Macan Electric
- Volkswagen ID. Buzz
- Volvo EX90
2025 World Luxury Car
Out of the initial 10 competitors, the top-five vehicles vying for the World Luxury Car of the Year award are…
- Lexus GX
- Porsche Macan
- Porsche Panamera
- Volkswagen ID. Buzz
- Volvo EX90
2025 World Performance Car
Seventeen performance cars were put up against each other. However, only five could make the final list. And these are…
- Bentley Continental GT Speed
- BMW M5
- Ford Mustang
- Porsche 911 Carrera GTS
- Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
2025 World Urban Car
Out of 12 candidates, the following cars were chosen to compete for top honours as 2025’s World Urban Car of the Year…
- BYD Seagull/Dolphin Mini
- Hyundai Inster/Casper Electric
- Mini Cooper
- Mini Cooper Electric
- Suzuki Swift
2025 World Car Design of the Year
Deciding the five finalists for 2025’s World Car Design of Year category was a design panel comprising five design experts — Anja Bracht from Pforzheim University, Germany; Gert Hildebrand, Owner of Hildebrand-Design; Tom Matano from the Academy of Art University and former Mazda Head of Design; Victor Nacif, Chief Creative Officer at Brojure.com and Design instructor at the New School of Architecture and Design; and Shiro Nakamura, CEO of Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.
- Baojun Yunduo/Cloud/MG Windsor EV
- Kia EV3
- Mini Cooper
- Toyota Land Cruiser
- Volkswagen ID. Buzz