BMW X3, Hyundai Inster and Kia EV3 are the 2025 World Car of the Year finalists

The BMW X3, Hyundai Inster and Kia EV3 are the 2025 World Car of the Year finalists, with the winner to be announced in New York on 16 April.

It’s a busy time of the year for COTY awards, and we’ve recently seen the electric Kia EV3 declared the UK Car of the Year 2025, the Hyundai Santa Fe Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year 2025 and the Renault 5 E-Tech European Car of the Year.

Now we’re getting close to the announcement of the 2025 World Car of the Year, which will happen on 16 April at the New York Motor Show, ahead of which we get details of the finalists.

Unsurprisingly, there’s more than a few EVs spread across the category finalists, with two of the three finalists for the main gong EVs.

The non-EV in the final three is the new BMW X3, revamped last year and available as an ICE and PHEV and planned to be sold alongside the Neue Klasse iX3 when it arrives later this year, joined by the new Kia EV3 and the little Hyundai Inster. The odds are that the Kia EV3 will take the gong as WCOTY 2025.

The full list of finalists for the 2025 World Car of the Year is below:

World Car of the Year
– BMW X3
– Hyundai Inster / Casper Electric
– Kia EV3

World Electric Vehicle
– Hyundai Inster / Casper Electric
– Kia EV3
– Porsche Macan Electric

World Luxury Car
– Porsche Macan
– Porsche Panamera
– Volvo EX90

World Performance Car
– BMW M5
– Porsche 911 Carrera GTS
– Porsche Taycan Turbo GT

World Urban Car
– BYD Seagull / Dolphin Mini
– Hyundai Inster / Casper Electric
– Mini Cooper Electric

World Car Design
– Kia EV3
– Toyota Land Cruiser / Land Cruiser 250
– Volkswagen ID. Buzz