Finally BYD Gets Acknowledged
It’s World Car Awards season again. You know, that time of year when the automotive world pretends to care what a panel of “experts” — most of whom haven’t turned a wrench or driven anything harder than a crossover on a wine country press trip — think is the best car in the world.
Presented at the New York Auto Show, the World Car Awards are supposed to celebrate innovation, design, and performance. But let’s keep it real: they haven’t done that in a while.
This year’s winners include the Kia EV3 as World Car of the Year, Volvo EX90 for Luxury, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS as Performance, and Hyundai Inster (also known as the Casper Electric) as World Electric Vehicle. Then there’s the BYD Seagull taking Urban Car and, to top it all off, the Volkswagen ID. BUZZ winning Car Design of the Year.
That last one almost made me spit out my coffee. Not because the ID. BUZZ isn’t cool — it is. But after last year, it’s hard to take this whole show seriously. In 2024, they handed the Design of the Year trophy to the Toyota Prius, over the Ferrari Purosangue. A Prius. For design. Then they doubled down on insanity by giving the Performance Car title to the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N over the BMW M2 and XM. One’s a precision-built coupe, the other is a tech-packed monster. The IONIQ? Sure, fun — but Performance Car of the Year? Come on.
It’s not just a few bad choices. It’s a pattern.
The awards have slowly become less about what’s best in class, and more about who’s footing the bill for the swankiest press junket. These days, “automotive journalist” feels like a loose term. Half the people voting have never published a road test. Many are influencers with bigger ring lights than driving résumés. But hey, they beat the algorithm, so now they’re front row and checking into five-star resorts in Tuscany.
It’s no longer about rewarding engineering excellence or design innovation — it’s about brand visibility and digital impressions. OEMs wine, dine, and fly out the media (and quasi-media) to far-flung destinations. And surprise, surprise — their car, SUV or truck is on the awards shortlist.
If that sounds cynical, it’s because it is. But also, it’s true. And this year’s winners only confirm what many of us have known for a while: the World Car Awards aren’t about the cars anymore.
They’re about the circus surrounding them.
And I’m done pretending otherwise.
IMAGES: Kia Global
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