Carl CunananThe World Car Of The Year Awards 2022 were announced April 13, 2022 at the New York International Auto Show. This is the culmination of a year of testing and deliberations from over a hundred journalists from around the world, from over 30 countries. Results were tabulated independently by the firm KPMG.
What does this mean for the Philippine market? Do we or will we have the cars? Of all the winning category cars, only one is currently available in the Philippines.
The AUDI E-TRON GT was launched early this year on February 18, and it just won the 2022 World Performance Car Award to make it the only currently available award winner in the group. “Our big goal with the AUDI E-TRON GT was to reimagine the Gran Turismo philosophy for the electric age” said Christiane Zorn, Head of Product Marketing at AUDI AG. Competition was strong, with the AUDI winning against such strong contenders as finalists the BMW M3/M4 and the Toyota GR86/Subaru BRZ.
The MERCEDES-BENZ EQS won the 2022 World Luxury Car Award, against the finalists the BMW iX and the Genesis GV70. “It has been an intense journey to build up the Electric Vehicle Architecture of which the EQS is the first product” said Christoph Starzynski, Vice-President Electric Vehicle Architecture and Development Electric Drive. Given the strength of Mercedes-Benz in this market and the discernment of the buyers, we hope the EQS becomes a market offering sometime soon.
The TOYOTA YARIS CROSS won the 2022 World Urban Car Award, and perhaps this stands a chance of entering the market soon. It went up against the Opel Mokka and the Volkswagen Taigun as finalists. “We are honored to be awarded “World Urban Car” said Chief Engineer Takatomo Suzuki, Toyota Compact Car Company, Toyota Motor Corporation. “ Our foundation has always been to make good compact cars, and this philosophy ha guided us to develop the Yaris Cross as a compact car with a spacious cargo area and utility, as well as sufficient power and fuel economy.”
The big winner of the evening was actually a multi-winner. The HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 won the overall 2022 World Car Of The Year Award, having gone against the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Kia EV6. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 also won the first-ever World Electric Vehicle Of The Year segment, where it went up against the two other winners The AUDI E-TRON GT and the MERCEDES-BENZ EQS. Additionally the IONOQ 5 also took the World Car Design Of The Year Award, which holds as eligible all contenders competing for the other 5 awards. “We are truly honored to receive these prestigious awards” said Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Corporation. “IONIQ 5 represents a pivotal achievement for us as we pioneer a new generation of smart mobility solutions.”
