The Kia Telluride large SUV has won 2020 World Car of the Year, edging out a pair of new Mazda models, the Mazda3 small car and CX-30 small SUV.
The Telluride was voted the winner by 86 jurors from 24 countries, with more than 50 new models assessed.
Significantly, Kia’s big win was the first by any South Korean brand in World Car of the Year’s 16-year history.
As reported, the Telluride is a left-hand-drive eight-seater that’s currently built in the US, primarily for the North American market.
Kia wasn’t done there, though, with the all-electric Soul EV small SUV taking home 2020 World Urban Car, with the all-electric Mini Electric small hatch and the Volkswagen T-Cross small SUV also finishing on the podium.
While the Mazda3 missed out on the headline award, it did pick up 2020 World Car Design of the Year, beating the Peugeot 208 light hatch and all-electric Porsche Taycan large sedan.
Speaking of which, the Taycan double-dipped, capturing the 2020 World Luxury Car and 2020 World Performance Car gongs ahead of the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQC mid-size SUV and the Porsche 911 sports car, and Porsche Cayman GT4 and 911 sports cars respectively.
Justin Hilliard
Head of Editorial
Justin’s dad chose to miss his birth because he wanted to watch Peter Brock hopefully win Bathurst, so it figures Justin grew up to have a car obsession, too – and don’t worry, his dad did turn up in time after some stern words from his mum.
That said, despite loving cars and writing, Justin chose to pursue career paths that didn’t lend themselves to automotive journalism, before eventually ending up working as a computer technician. But that car itch just couldn’t be scratched by his chipped Volkswagen Golf R (Mk7), so he finally decided to give into the inevitable and study a Master of Journalism at the same time.
And even with the long odds, Justin was lucky enough to land a full-time job as a motoring journalist soon after graduating and the rest, as they say, is history. These days, Justin happily finds himself working at CarsGuide during the biggest period of change yet for the automotive industry, which is perhaps the most exciting part of all.
In case you’re wondering, Justin begrudgingly sold the Golf R (sans chip) and still has plans to buy his dream car, an E46 BMW M3 coupe (manual, of course), but he is in desperate need of a second car space – or maybe a third.
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