The Kia electric car EV6 is the first from Korea to win the European Car of the Year award. (Kia Corp.'s official blog)
By Aisylu Akhmetzianova and Kim Hayeon
The Kia electric vehicle EV6 is the first Korean model to win the European Car of the Year (COTY) award.
The carmaker on March 1 said the EV6 on Feb. 28 earned the honor at the 2022 European COTY awards held online from Geneva, Switzerland.
The model beat out six other competitors for the title: the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Cupra Born, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Peugeot 308, Renault Megane E-Tech and Skoda Enyaq iV.
Created by applying Kia's Electric-Global Modular Platform, the EV6 has received praise for its wide interior space with a 2,900 mm wheelbase and an ultra-fast charging system that charges the battery from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes.
Kia said sales of the EV6 in Europe from October last year to January this year reached 11,302 units. The eco-friendly car has also earned other accolades this year including Irish Car of the Year, What Car? Car of the Year and German Car of the Year in the premium category, as well as Crossover of the Year at last year's TopGear.com awards.
Selected by 61 jury members comprising journalists covering cars from 23 European countries, the European COTY awards were launched in 1964 and are considered one of the world's most prestigious automotive honors along with the "North American Car and Truck of the Year."
aisylu@korea.kr
