Car of the year awards are decided by juries of automotive journalists rather than by sales charts or owner surveys. Two panels dominate the conversation, the North American Car of the Year jury and the World Car Awards jury, and their winners range from family sedans to a battery hatchback. A Honda Civic has taken the North American title four times, and here are thirteen winners from both lists.
1. Honda Civic: Four-Time Champion
The 2025 North American Car of the Year went to the Civic Hybrid, and a Motoring Research slideshow records that it marked the fourth time a Honda Civic collected the prestigious NACTOY Award. No other nameplate in the jury’s history appears on this page that often.
The record says something about consistency, since the Civic has been redesigned many times and still kept landing in front of the same panel of journalists. Compact sedans rarely draw glamour, yet this one keeps winning votes.
2. Toyota Prius: A Hybrid Reinvented
The Prius won North American Car of the Year in 2004 and again in 2024, when the Prius and Prius Prime were praised for what a Motoring Research slideshow calls genuinely stunning styling. A hybrid once known mostly for efficiency earned its second trophy on looks.
The twenty-year gap shows how far the nameplate travelled, from an oddball first adopted by early enthusiasts to a design the jury was willing to describe in terms usually reserved for sports cars.
3. Chrysler 300: The Retro Saloon
The 2005 North American Car of the Year was the Chrysler 300, described in a Motoring Research slideshow as a convincing luxury saloon. Its tall, boxy shape and rear-wheel-drive layout stood apart from the front-drive sedans around it.
Jurors rewarded a car that looked like nothing else on the road while still delivering the comfort expected of a premium cruiser. Few American sedans of that decade matched its mix of presence and price.
4. Honda Accord: Sleek Family Sedan
A Motoring Research slideshow credits the 2018 North American Car of the Year, the tenth-generation Honda Accord, for its sleek new styling. The mid-size sedan arrived as buyers were drifting toward crossovers, so a trophy for a conventional four-door was a notable vote of confidence.
It also made Honda a repeat visitor on the winners list. The jury treated an everyday family car with the same seriousness as a halo model, which is rare among major automotive honors today.
5. Genesis G70: Sport Sedan Surprise
The Genesis G70 was named 2019 North American Car of the Year, with the jury praising its driver engagement and value, according to a Motoring Research slideshow. The brand was new to most American shoppers, and the car took on established German sport sedans rather than lesser competition.
A win that early in a marque’s life is unusual. It gave a young luxury label an independent endorsement that advertising alone could not easily have bought.
6. Mazda MX-5 Miata: The Roadster Returns
The World Car Awards’ official winners history lists the Mazda MX-5 Miata as the 2016 World Car of the Year, as shown in its official winners history. The fourth-generation roadster was light, simple and cheap to run, which is the opposite of how most award winners are built.
It showed that an international jury could prize driving fun over size or technology, and it gave a small, affordable two-seater a rare spot beside luxury saloons.
7. Lexus LS 460: A Luxury Flagship
The Lexus LS 460 is recorded as the 2007 World Car of the Year in the awards body’s official winners history. The flagship sedan was the fourth-generation LS, launched with a V8 and an unusually quiet cabin.
Its win came in only the third year of the World Car Awards and helped establish that Japanese luxury brands could take the top prize. The jury judged the car against global rivals rather than within one regional market.
8. Nissan Leaf: Electric Pioneer
The Nissan Leaf was crowned 2011 World Car of the Year, a result listed in the official winners history published by the awards body. It was one of the first mass-produced battery cars sold at scale in many markets, and the jury chose it over conventional petrol rivals.
The win gave early electric motoring a credibility boost at a time when range worries were widespread. The hatchback remains a landmark in the history of plug-in vehicles.
9. BMW 3 Series: Driver’s Choice
The BMW 3 Series won 2006 World Car of the Year, according to the official winners history from the World Car Awards. The E90 generation carried on the model’s reputation for balanced handling in a compact executive body.
It arrived at a point when rivals from Mercedes and Audi were closing the gap, so the jury’s choice confirmed that the benchmark still held. The car also became one of the most commonly seen sedans in several large markets.
10. Volkswagen Golf: Twice the Winner
The Volkswagen Golf won World Car of the Year twice, the Mk6 in 2009 and the Mk7, which a Motoring Research slideshow says was rightly named 2013 World Car of the Year. Repeat victories are uncommon among the juries’ picks.
The hatchback’s appeal lies in its steady, unflashy competence rather than any single headline feature. Four years separated the two wins, yet each generation impressed jurors with refinement beyond its price class.
11. Mercedes-Benz C-Class: A First for Mercedes
The 2015 World Car of the Year was the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a result a Motoring Research slideshow calls a World Car Awards first for Mercedes-Benz. The W205 generation brought S-Class-style interior design and lighter aluminium-intensive construction to the smaller sedan.
After years of competition, the brand finally claimed the trophy with its best-selling model. The result suggests that the jury weighs mainstream premium cars just as seriously as exotic ones, and that preference shapes the whole list.
12. Audi A3: Premium Hatchback
The Audi A3 was named 2014 World Car of the Year, as a Motoring Research slideshow puts it. The third-generation car used a lightweight modular platform shared across the wider Volkswagen Group.
It brought upmarket materials to the compact hatchback class and proved that a small car could carry premium appeal. The win followed the Golf’s 2013 title, so cars built on the same architecture took consecutive prizes, a pattern that reflects the engineering strength behind that shared platform.
13. Audi A6: The Very First
The Audi A6 was the 2005 winner, described in a Motoring Research slideshow as the first ever World Car of the Year. The C6 generation took the inaugural trophy when the awards were created to give a global answer to regional contests.
Being first gave the car a permanent place in the record books. The jury has since honored many styles, from tiny city cars to electric crossovers, yet the large executive sedan still opens the list.
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