Kia Sweeps Two Categories of Car of the Year at UK's What Car? Awards

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Kia announced on the 20th that the Sportage was selected as the ‘Family SUV of the Year’ at the UK’s prestigious automobile awards, the ‘2023 What Car? Awards.’

First held in 1978 and marking its 46th edition this year, the What Car? Awards is an automobile awards ceremony hosted by What Car?, the leading British automotive media outlet renowned as the most authoritative in Europe. The awards select the best models by category, including the Car of the Year.

The Sportage was chosen as the Family Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the Year, beating strong competitors such as the ▲BMW X3 ▲Nissan Ariya ▲Skoda Karoq ▲Volvo XC60, receiving praise for its practical interior design, excellent driving performance, and reasonable price.

The newly evaluated Sportage was launched in the UK in February last year, selling 29,655 units over the course of the year. This sales volume ranks sixth among all new cars sold in the UK in 2022.

Paul Philpott, head of Kia UK, said, “We are proud that the Sportage was selected as the best family SUV at What Car? Awards,” adding, “We will aggressively target the European market with the Sportage lineup, which includes hybrid and plug-in hybrid models.”

In addition, Kia achieved a double victory at the What Car? Awards as its flagship electric vehicle, the EV9, was selected as the ‘Most Anticipated Car’ by What Car? readers.

Being chosen in the ‘Most Anticipated Car’ category, which is decided solely by reader votes, further proves that the EV9 is highly anticipated by general customers in the global automotive market.

Scheduled for release in the first half of this year, the EV9 is a large electrified SUV based on the dedicated electric vehicle platform E-GMP, representing Kia’s flagship electric vehicle with innovative technology and excellent product quality.

With this award, Kia has achieved the remarkable feat of winning the What Car? Awards for six consecutive years, following the Morning in 2018, the Niro EV and Morning in 2019, the Morning in 2020, the Sorento in 2021, and the EV6 in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Sportage continues to receive steady love worldwide, recording sales of 452,068 units globally last year and ranking as Kia’s best-selling single model.