JAKARTA - The new era of BMW with the Neue Klasse has recorded great achievements on the global automotive stage. BMW's latest electric SUV, the iX3, has officially won the highest title of World Car of the Year 2026 and World Electric Vehicle in the World Car Awards which was announced recently.
This victory for the iX3 is an important milestone for BMW, marking the first success of the Neue Klasse platform in dominating international awards. As the first model to use the electric-specific platform, it managed to outperform strong rivals such as the Hyundai Palisade and Nissan Leaf in the main category.
The jury panel consisting of 98 automotive journalists from 33 countries gave the highest assessment to the iX3 thanks to its mileage efficiency, its class-leading charging specifications, and its revolutionary new design language. In the electric vehicle category, the iX3 also successfully outpaced the Mercedes-Benz CLA and the Nissan Leaf.
Head of BMW's Neue Klasse, Mike Reichelt, welcomed this achievement as a validation of the company's new direction.
"The BMW iX3 marks the beginning of a new era for us, both in terms of design language, cruising range, charging capacity, to BMW Panoramic iDrive driver assistance systems. The innovation of the Neue Klasse will benefit our entire product portfolio in the future," said Reichelt, quoted from Autoblog, Thursday, April 2.
This victory is the second World Car of the Year title for the Bavarian manufacturer after it was previously won by the BMW 3 Series (E90) in 2006. In addition to the iX3, BMW also placed the M2 CS model as a finalist in the World Performance Car category, although the category was eventually won by the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N.
The success of the iX3 at the beginning of its launch is considered a positive signal for the next Neue Klasse models, including the electric sedan i3 (successor to the electric Series 3) which is scheduled to follow in the near future.
With a combination of radical design and the latest generation of battery performance, the BMW iX3 is now the new standard in the global luxury electric SUV segment. The 2027 model year iX3 unit is expected by BMW to continue to strengthen BMW's dominance in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle market.
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