German auto industry insiders consider the "Golden Steering Wheel" award event, which the brand-new Kia Niro EV recently received, to be among the most prestigious in the country. The fully electric crossover, released earlier this year amid widespread praise, has won the "Golden Steering Wheel 2022" award for best compact SUV. Second place in the same category went to the Kia Sportage Plug-in Hybrid. The sweep demonstrates Kia's dominance in a very competitive market in Europe. The Volkswagen Taigo came in third.
The Kia EV6 GT, the high-performance variant of Kia's all-electric crossover, was recently released and received recognition from the judges at the "Golden Wheel 2022," where it placed second in the "mid-size luxury" category, behind the Nio ET7 and ahead of the Mercedes-Benz EQE.
The editorial staffs of the German periodicals "AUTO BILD" and "BILD am SONNTAG" nominated 47 new automobile models across seven categories, three of which were won by Kia: the Niro EV, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, and Kia EV6 GT electric crossover. Then, their readers chose the top three cars in each category, and a group of 21 experts gave each car a thorough test at the DEKRA Lausitzring circuit in Germany to decide who won.
According to Jason Jeong, president of Kia Europe, "cars that are efficient, have a long-range, and look good are what Kia is adding to its growing lineup of electrified models." This year's "Golden Steering Wheel" celebrates the whole scope of our electrified product line, further establishing the company as an industry pioneer in this space. "We are thrilled that three of our most recent models were chosen as finalists in this year's awards because we are always thinking about the future of transportation."
Thomas Djuren stated that the Golden Steering Wheel is a prestigious honor given only to the greatest vehicles in the country. We are humbled that this year's award went to the Kia Niro EV and that the Sportage Plug-in Hybrid came in second place among the models tested by the most knowledgeable automotive experts worldwide. With this victory, Kia will be able to better serve its customers' needs for innovative and award-winning electric vehicles.
Kia's Niro EV has won the company its third "Golden Steering Wheel" award for outstanding electric vehicle design and engineering in as many years. In 2020, the Kia Sorento won the "large SUV" category; in 2019, the Kia XCeed won the "best car under 35,000 euros" category.
This past March, the Kia EV6 took home top honors at the Red Dot Design Awards for its unique and forward-thinking layout. The all-electric crossover also took home the top prize in the "Innovative Products" category at this year's Red Dot Awards. Furthermore, the EV6 was named "Crossover of the Year" by What Car? and "Car of the Year" by the Irish Car Awards and "What Car?" in the United Kingdom, both for "TopGear.com's 2021 Awards Ceremony" in 2022.
By the end of 2027, Kia plans to offer 14 electric vehicles, including a new series of compact and mid-size EVs that will hit the market by the end of 2025. By 2030, the company expects yearly sales of 4 million vehicles, with 1.2 million being totally electric.
The most recent ACEA sales figures show that Kia vehicles are in strong demand across Europe. For the first nine months of 2022, Kia's European market share increased to 5.1% from 4.2% the year before. There were 425,882 Kias registered in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, and the United Kingdom from January to September, an increase of 9.8 percent from the corresponding period in 2017.
Since its inception in 1976, the "Golden Steering Wheel" has recognized the best new vehicles annually. There are seven classes of vehicles to compete in: tiny compacts, mid-size luxury cars, compact SUVs, mid-size SUVs, large SUVs, family sedans, and sports cars. There are seven main categories for the "Golden Steering Wheel 2022," and an additional four (including "Best automobile under 30,000 euros," "Best car under 50,000 euros," "Innovation of the year," and "Most beautiful car" are also recognized.
Twenty-one industry professionals, including Hans-Joachim Stuck (former Formula 1 driver), Sophia Flörsch, Maximilian Götz, and Daniel Abt (racing drivers), Isolde Holderied (rally driver), Lina van de Mars (motorsport enthusiast and presenter), Tom Beck (actor), Steffen Henssler (TV chef), and Betty Taube (influencer), made up this year's jury.
