WWCOTY delegation travels to Korea to present KIA with the World’s Best Car award
July. Three jury members of Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year were invited to Korea to present the trophy to Kia for the Kia EV9 winning the 2024 supreme award.
The judges – Shereen Shabnam from UAE, Nicole Wakelin from the USA and Sandy Myhre from New Zealand – presented the trophy to Mr Teckkoun Kim, Head of Kia Design Next Group – at the Busan International Mobility Show.
It was clear that winning the award was significant to Kia and Mr Kim commented that the win will help the recognition of the EV9. “It gives another twist to customers when juries like yours recognize the EV9 because you are the experts and you know which EV or vehicle works for the consumer experience,” he said.
WWCOTY delegation was also interviewed for Kia’s official social media channels including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Excerpts from the interview will likely be used in a promotional video collaboration with Bloomberg Media and will be featured on their websites.
The three Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year jury members were also the subject of an extensive television interview by Michael Choo of Kia Brand Communications. The theme of the interview was ‘How Kia EV9 became the supreme winner of the WWCOTY award’.
Sandy Myhre (NZ) gave a short history of the awards and discussed how many jury members there are today. She emphasised the rigorous process adopted by the voting system and said, in the end, the EV9 was a clear winner for 2024.
Shereen Shabnam (UAE) discussed the various unique design aspects of the EV9 from the lowered hipline which creates better vision from inside the car to the ‘star’ cluster headlights which are another unique feature of the SUV.
Nicole Wakelin (USA) talked about the wheel design which, again, is unique and how the sporty spoke image produces an interesting geometric graphic on the surface of the wheel.
All three judges spoke of the significance of the WWCOTY Award and what it will mean to Kia customers around the world.
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About Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year
Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year is the only car awards group in the world comprised exclusively of women motoring journalists. It was created by New Zealand motoring journalist Sandy Myhre in 2009. She is Honorary President while Marta García is Executive President.
This unique award aims to recognise the best cars of the year and to give a voice to women in the automotive world. The voting criteria are based on the same principles that guide any driver when choosing a car. The jurors do not select a ‘woman’s car’ because cars are not gender specific. Aspects such as safety, quality, price, design, ease of driving, benefits and environmental footprint, among others, are considered when casting the votes.
However, beyond choosing the best cars of the year, our goal is also to give visibility to women in the automotive world and to contribute to making women’s voices heard on all continents because mobility for a woman means access to many personal and professional possibilities.
