The process of selecting the best new car released in 2025 has begun.
Korea Automobile Specialist Journalists Association (chairman Kang Hee-soo) on the 26th selected 41 of the new cars released in 2025 as candidates by institutional sector for the "2026 Korea car of the year" (hereafter car of the year).
The 'car of the year' evaluation targets are vehicles released this year and full-model-change (full change) and facelift models among those that have begun customer delivery.
A total of 93 vehicles made the list this year. Amid the rise of eco-friendly vehicles including electric cars, the global auto market downturn that continued after the post-COVID era has gradually lifted.
The vehicles under review fell to 70 for '2025 car of the year' after 84 for '2023 car of the year' and 78 in 2024, then rose sharply again in the '2026' review. In particular, the entry of Chinese brands into Korea and an increase in imported new car launches are cited as causes.
Not only hybrids (HEV·PHEV) but also electric vehicles (EV) saw a large increase in models offering multiple powertrains for the same model, and the appearance of new hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) expanded consumers' choices.
The launch of high-performance models is also noteworthy. German brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, as well as Hyundai Motor and Kia, and brands such as Ferrari and Land Rover introduced a total of 25 high-performance models, contributing to diversification.
This year a 'soft tech (Software+Technology)' institutional sector was newly established to reflect the trend of SDV (software-defined vehicle), that is, cars centered on software. Candidates included Hyundai Motor 'Pleaos', Tesla 'FSD', and GM 'Super Cruise'.
The 2026 Korea car of the year will present awards in 15 institutional sectors including the grand prize '2026 Korea car of the year' △internal combustion engine sedan of the year △internal combustion engine crossover of the year △internal combustion engine SUV of the year △electric sedan of the year △electric crossover of the year △electric SUV of the year △hybrid sedan of the year △hybrid SUV of the year △MPV of the year △pickup truck of the year △performance of the year △luxury car of the year △soft tech of the year △design of the year and △person of the year.
In the △internal combustion engine sedan institutional sector, the BMW 2 Series Coupe, Audi A5 and Volvo S90 B5 will compete; in the △internal combustion engine crossover institutional sector, the BMW 1 Series, Volkswagen Golf and Peugeot 308 Smart Hybrid; and in the △internal combustion engine SUV institutional sector, Hyundai Motor Palisade, Volkswagen Atlas and Volvo XC90 B6 were nominated.
In the △electric sedan of the year, Hyundai Motor Ioniq 6, Kia EV4 and BYD SEAL were nominated, and in the △electric crossover of the year, Genesis GV60, Renault Scenic E-Tech 100% electric and Volvo EX30 CC will compete. Also, in the △electric SUV of the year, Hyundai Motor Ioniq 9, Hyundai Motor Nexo and Porsche Macan Electric were selected as candidates.
The △hybrid sedan of the year had the Volvo S90 T8 as the sole candidate, meaning that because there was no competing model among the released vehicles, whether it wins will be decided by vote. Also, in the △hybrid SUV of the year, Hyundai Motor Palisade HEV, KGM Actyon Hybrid and Lexus LX 700h compete.
In the △MPV of the year, Kia PV5 and Hyundai Motor the new Staria faced off, and in the △pickup truck of the year, KGM Musso EV, Kia Tasman and Tesla Cybertruck were nominated.
The △performance institutional sector is the most hotly contested, with the BMW M5, Volkswagen Golf GTI and Hyundai Motor Ioniq 6 N competing. Also, in the △design of the year, selected from the entire pool of vehicles under review by recommendations from each juror, Peugeot 3008 Smart Hybrid, Kia PV5, Hyundai Motor Palisade, Kia EV5 and Kia EV4 will compete. This increase to five candidates resulted from a tie occurring during the initial voting process to select three models, and a fiercer competition is expected.
In the newly established △soft tech (Software+Technology) institutional sector this year, Hyundai Motor Group Pleos Fleet, Tesla FSD and GM Super Cruise made the final list of candidates.
Finally, in the △person of the year institutional sector, six people from five automobile brands were recommended, and the association said it will announce only the final selected person after discussion and a final vote.
The Korea Automobile Specialist Journalists Association will select the final winning vehicle after on-road tests on Jan. 12, 2026 for the vehicles that made the candidate pool. The awards ceremony is scheduled to be held in Feb. 2026.
Regarding this, Korea Automobile Specialist Journalists Association Chairman Kang Hee-soo said, "This year the global auto market was a year of tightening for everyone. Nevertheless, the auto industry's new attempts to plan future mobility continued steadily and various forms of eco-friendly cars were launched," and noted, "Following the logic of 'plant in spring (春種) and harvest in autumn (秋收),' we could see that in difficult times people planned the future wholeheartedly, and I expect the seeds sown in hard times will return as solid fruit in the not-too-distant future."
Meanwhile, the Korea Automobile Specialist Journalists Association selected the Kia K9 and Lexus new ES as car of the year in 2013, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in 2014, the Infiniti Q50 in 2015, Hyundai Motor Avante in 2016, Renault Samsung Motors SM6 in 2017, Kia Stinger in 2018, Hyundai Motor Palisade in 2019, Kia new K5 in 2020, Genesis G80 in 2021, Kia EV6 in 2022, Hyundai Motor Grandeur Hybrid in 2023, Hyundai Motor Ioniq 5 N in 2024 and Kia EV3 in 2025.
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