What's all this about?

It's the latest instalment in the 20th anniversary celebrations of the World Car of the Year awards, with the announcement this week of the person voted the worthiest winner of a prize.

Ok, so do they just pick a person from thin air?

Not exactly. There are more than 100 journalists from 29 countries who judge the people worthy of including on the shortlist. They are then voted for by a jury, of which I'm proud to say I'm a part.

The top five comprised Newey, plus Porsche GT car legend Andreas Preuninger, BMW's Stephan Durach, Volvo interior design head Lisa Reeves and CV Raman from Indian firm Maruti Suzuki. The jury decided that Red Bull's domination of the 2023 Formula One World Championship - where it took victory in 21 out of 22 races - meant Newey got the nod.

Fair enough. Sounds like a neat prize to win...

The list of previous winners is like a who's who of the automotive industry, that's for sure, with Hyundai boss SangYup Lee, Hyundai design president Luc Donkerwolke, Toyota's Akido Toyoda, Carlos Tavares (who was CEO of the PSA Group - now Stellantis, following the merger with Fiat), the late Sergio Marchionne from Fiat, and Volvo's Hakan Samuelsson all taking the prize since it was established in 2018.

It was the success of the Red Bull RB19 in the 2023 Formula One World Championship that caught the eye of the judges. The Newey-designed machine proved fast out of the box, so Red Bull had a clear performance advantage when the flag dropped at the start of the season, going on to set a record for the number of grand prix won in a season (21 out of 22), and helping Max Verstappen take his third-straight drivers' world championship.

What next for World Car of the Year?

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the contest, and as a result the organisers have been undertaking a series of events to celebrate. The top 10 finalists were revealed at the start of the year, and these will be whittled down to the final three on 26 February, when the World Car of the Year Top Three will be revealed at the Geneva motor show in Switzerland.

After that, the awards move to the New York Auto Show, and on 27 March the 2024 World Car of the Year will be announced, as well as the winners of the other categories: best Electric Vehicle, Luxury Car, Performance Car, Urban Car and Design of the Year, the latter being picked by a panel of leading car designers from across the globe.

Shane O'Donoghue - 22 Feb 2024