Kia wins as Russia expelled from European Car of the Year contest
Kia has become the first South Korean company to scoop the European Car of the Year award, with victory for the electric EV6 in 2022. Due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, however, Russian jurors were suspended from this year’s contest, and the Russian flag was removed from the awards presentation.
The EV6 pipped the Renault Megane E-Tech Electric and Hyundai Ioniq 5 to the ECOTY trophy in a closely-fought contest. Kia ended up with 279 points, beating Renault on 265 and Hyundai on 261.
The three cars were well clear of the other four contenders: the Cupra Born, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Enyaq iV. Six of the seven finalists for 2022 were pure electric cars. The new Peugeot 308 is available as a plug-in hybrid – with an EV version on the way.
The EV6 is priced from £40,945 and offers a fully charged range of up to 328 miles – along with Kia’s seven-year warranty. One juror said: “The EV6 stands out by combining energy efficiency, a large capacity battery and ultra-fast charging”, while another praised its “roomy and well-finished passenger compartment” and “smooth and pleasant drive”.
European Car of the Year has been awarded since 1964, when the Rover 2000 beat the Mercedes-Benz 600 and Hillman Imp to the title. Notable winners since include the NSU Ro 80 in 1968, Porsche 928 in 1978 and Vauxhall Ampera in 2012. The Jaguar I-Pace was the first electric car to win overall, edging out the Alpine A110 in 2019.
Some 61 jurors took part in the 2022 competition, including journalists from major European motoring titles. The Russian jurors had their right to vote removed, but the organisation noted that: ‘the suspension of the Russian votes does not have any influence on this year’s results, neither on the winning car, nor on the ranking.’
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research