Kia Telluride Wins World Car Of The Year, Taycan Takes Two Awards

The votes are in, and the Kia Telluride is the 2020 World Car of the Year. It beat the Mazda3 and Mazda CX-30 to take the honor.

The Telluride has enjoyed critical acclaim since the crossover's launch. It won the Utility class in the North American Car of the Year awards and is a Consumer Reports Top Pick. Buyers have liked the vehicle enough for Kia to boost production.

In the other categories, the Porsche Taycan took the honors for World Luxury Car and World Performance Car. It beat the Porsche 911 and Mercedes-Benz EQC in the former group and the Porsche 911 and Toyota Supra in the latter one. If you love the idea of the Taycan but need more utility, then be patient because the Cross Turismo wagon should arrive late in 2020.

Kia takes home a second trophy, too, because the Soul EV is World Urban Car. It beat the Volkswagen T-Cross and Mini Cooper SE Electric. With an EPA-rated range of 243 miles (391 kilometers), the Soul EV offers among the highest driving distance for EVs in the United States.

Finally, the Mazda3 earns the World Car Design of the Year. The World Car of the Year organizers post the full voting breakdown, and it shows this is a narrow victory. The Mazda got 179 points, but the Porsche Taycan received 177 points. This was the smallest difference between first and second places for any of the categories. The Peugeot 208 came in third place with 144 points.