The 59th running of the Europe Car of the Year competition has seen Kia awarded the winning trophy for the first time in the Korean automaker’s history. This year its new all-electric model, the EV6 emerged victorious after voting by 61 automotive journalists from 23 countries across the UK and Europe.
“It's a nice surprise to see the Kia EV6 receive this award,” said president of the jury, Frank Janssen at the awards ceremony. “It was about time that the brand and the group were rewarded, as they have worked so hard on this car. Kia's pace of progress is really impressive.”
In the end the EV6 beat the other six finalists to score 279 points ahead of the new Renault Megane E-Tech electric with 265 points and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 with 261 points. Hyundai and Kia are of course sister companies and the EV6 sits on the same platform as the Ioniq 5, but it was the Kia that won the jury over in the end.
“It’s a great honour to have won the 2022 European Car of the Year with the EV6, the first ever Kia to win this prestigious award,” said Jason Jeong, president at Kia Europe. “The EV6 is truly a landmark development that’s been designed from the outset to make electric mobility fun, convenient and accessible by combining a highly impressive real-world driving range, ultra-fast charging capabilities, a spacious high-tech interior and a truly rewarding driving experience. The EV6 is an exciting sign of what’s still to come in our evolving electrified line-up.”
The other four finalists were the Peugeot 308, Skoda Enyaq iV, Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Cupra Born. All but one of the seven finalists are electric, showing just much the EV market has grown in the past few years and how much the vehicles themselves have improved across all aspects, from design to comfort and range.
In the UK the Kia EV6 range starts from £40,945 and provides a driving range of up to 328 miles.It’s available in rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive with power outputs up to 585hp with a 77.4kWh battery used across all models.
Keep an eye out for our full review of the EV6 coming to car.co.uk in March.
Written by Mark Smyth
