Genesis G80 Named 2021 Car of the Year by Car Journalists Association

BMW New 5 Series Named Import Car of the Year, Kia Sorento Named SUV of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The Genesis G80 has been selected as the 2021 Car of the Year by the Korea Automobile Journalists Association (KAJA).

KAJA announced that it held the 2021 Car of the Year awards ceremony on the morning of the 4th at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The ceremony was attended by Kang Kyung-sung, Director of Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ren? Koneveag, President of the Korea Imported Automobile Association, Kim Jun-gyu, Chairman of the Korea Automobile Industry Association's Steering Committee, Jang Jae-hoon, President of Hyundai Motor Company, and others.

Earlier, on the 18th of last month, KAJA conducted the final evaluation at the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Automotive Safety Research Institute (KATRI) located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, and selected the Genesis G80 as the Car of the Year.

The Genesis G80 received a high score of 9.37 out of 10 in handling and driving feel, 9.33 in noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), and 9.13 in acceleration performance and cost-effectiveness, achieving excellent scores across all categories. As a result, the Genesis G80 earned a total satisfaction score of 83.88 out of 100, securing its position as the 2021 Car of the Year.

Ryu Jong-eun, chairman of the Car of the Year selection committee, stated, "Despite the very challenging conditions due to COVID-19, we conducted a fair and rigorous evaluation of new and facelifted models released over the past year."

In the final evaluation for Car of the Year, 21 new models from 10 brands including Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW, Chevrolet, Audi, Genesis, Porsche, and Hyundai competed fiercely. The final evaluation used 10 assessment criteria from the perspectives of vehicle characteristics and consumer purchase intention: interior and exterior design, performance and quality, safety and convenience features, ease of operation, fuel efficiency and maintenance, vehicle price, and purchase intention.

As a result, the 2021 Innovation of the Year was awarded to the multi-collision prevention automatic braking system applied to the Kia Sorento. The BMW New 5 Series was honored as the Import Car of the Year, and the Kia Sorento received the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the Year award. Additionally, the Kia Carnival was selected as the Utility Vehicle of the Year. The Porsche Taycan won two awards for Design and Performance of the Year, and the Audi e-tron was chosen as the Green Car of the Year.