The Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year (WWCOTY) has announced the winners of the categories in this year’s award with models displaying excellence in terms of safety, driving, technology, comfort, efficiency, environmental impact and value for money.

And this year, two new awards have been added to the list for the manufacturers offering the Best Tech along with the Sandy Myhre Award for the most pro-woman brand.

A total of 81 candidates were in the running to win one of the WWCOTY categories. All of them must meet the requirement of having been launched in at least two continents or 40 countries between January and December 2024.

This is the 15th edition of the awards presented by WWCOTY which comprises 82 female motoring journalists from 55 countries on five continents. It is the only all-female jury in the automotive industry worldwide.

“The work of the jurors has not been easy because this year there have been more contenders than ever before. There are new brands and models with an ever-increasing quality,” said Marta García, president of WWCOTY.

“No vote has been given at random. They have all been subjected to demanding test drives, detailed analysis and in-depth competitor studies. That’s why the WWCOTY awards are a benchmark for millions of buyers around the world”, she added.

This year’s category winners are the Mini Cooper (Best Urban Model), Kia EV3 (Best Compact SUV), Audi A6 e-tron (Best Large Car), Hyundai Santa Fe (Best Large SUV), Toyota Land Cruiser (Best 4×4 or Pick-up) and Porsche Panamera (Best performance and Luxury Car).

These six winners now go through to the final round of judging to determine the winner of WWCOTY’s top award. The winner will be announced on the Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year YouTube Channel at 00:00 (New Zealand time) on March 6, two days before International Women’s Day.

The all-new Best Tech Award went to BYD with WWCOTY saying the manufacturer has taken a giant leap forward in electric mobility with its Blade battery technology. These LFP (lithium-ferro phosphate) batteries offer higher energy density, greater safety, reduced risk of fire, a longer service life compared to traditional batteries and a longer range. It has also made breakthroughs in plug-in hybrid technology with the DM (Dual Mode) system and its two approaches of DM-i for efficiency and low fuel consumption, and DM-p for high performance.

And the Sandy Myhre Award for the most committed brand for women was awarded to Volvo. The company has long demonstrated its commitment to women. It has a large representation of women in the workforce, while in safety it has been using pregnant dummies since 1995. In 2023 it partnered with Girls Who Code, an organisation that works to close the gender gap in technology.