Women’s Worldwide Car Of The Year 2026 Winners Revealed
women s worldwide car of the year announces the 2026 category winners
14 January 2026: The annual votive ritual of cars and opinions has concluded. Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year, judged by 84 women motoring journalists from 54 countries, has announced its category winners after a thorough and often very bright-eyed evaluation. The awards recognise the best vehicles of the year for design, technology, efficiency and their ability to meet drivers’ needs across the globe.
2026 Category Winners
Compact Car: Nissan Leaf. Compact SUV: Škoda Elroq. Large Car: Mercedes-Benz CLA. Large SUV: Hyundai Ioniq 9. 4×4: Toyota 4Runner. Performance Car: Lamborghini Temerario.
Special Prizes
Best Technology Award: Renault. Sandy Myhre Award for commitment to gender equality: Ford.
Nissan Leaf — Best Compact Car
Think of an electric hatchback that has stopped trying to impress engineers and started catering to ordinary lives. The Leaf is entirely electric, quiet, very efficient in town and suburbia, and obsessed with making the interior usable rather than complicated. It favours sensible space and ease of use over flashy gimmicks, which makes it one of the most straightforward and pleasant electric cars to live with.
Škoda Elroq — Best Compact SUV
A pragmatic compact SUV that happens to be electric and rather good at it. Outputs range from 170 to 286 horsepower, aero tweaks improve efficiency and the cabin is designed to make life easier for passengers. Under WLTP testing its range can top roughly 311 miles or 500 kilometres, which is nothing to sniff at for this class.
Mercedes-Benz CLA — Best Large Car
A premium compact saloon with a coupé silhouette and the sort of tech that makes you think the future has finally arrived. The interior feels high quality, the digital kit is plentiful and the driving experience leans toward comfort and acoustic calm. It’s an emotionally satisfying and technically rich step into the luxury world without going ostentatious.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 — Best Large SUV
A large electric SUV that treats family life and long-distance driving as a mission. There is abundant interior space, a modular approach to seating and a clear focus on comfort for everyone on board. Conceived as sustainable mobility for larger scale use, it aims to make electric travel relaxing and practical for long hauls.
Toyota 4Runner — Best 4×4
The 4Runner remains delightfully unbothered by fashion. Built on a body-on-frame chassis, it is all about robustness, mechanical simplicity and proper off-road capability. It is not trying to be clever or dainty. It is designed to go where the road ends, survive, and keep on going – and that is precisely the point.
Lamborghini Temerario — Best Exclusive Car
A supercar with an appetite for spectacle and engineering to match. The Temerario debuts a new aluminium space-frame chassis and a sophisticated hybrid setup pairing a twin-turbo V8 with three electric motors. The result is extreme design and a driving experience tuned for maximum emotion, mixing electrification with the brand’s characteristic roar and drama.
Renault — Best Tech Award
Renault earned recognition for platforms that prioritise weight, space and efficiency for electric vehicles, and for packaging software and driver assistance in a way that ordinary users can actually benefit from. The brand has been noted for making advanced technology more accessible, carrying some innovations down from motorsport into everyday models.
Ford — Sandy Myhre Award
This prize highlights an automaker’s sustained commitment to gender equality. Ford received the award for long-term policies and programs that promote female leadership, support work-life balance and increase women’s presence in technical and senior roles across multiple markets.
The jury evaluated 55 eligible models from the 2025 model year, all launched in at least two continents or 40 countries during the year. The global industry’s steady march toward electrification and an expanding field of models and brands made the job more complicated and more interesting.
The six category winners will now progress to the final round, where the overall Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year will be chosen. The ultimate winner will be revealed on the organisation’s YouTube channel during the week of International Women’s Day, March 8. The awards continue to provide an independent, expert guide for buyers and to highlight the perspectives of women in the automotive world.
Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.
