All GCOTY category winners are now finalists for overall German Car of the Year.
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The class of 2027 is looking highly competitive and fierce! The hotly contested GCOTY class winners lineup is now announced, with manufacturers being presented their trophies last evening at a ceremony in central Germany at the Nationales Museum – the Loh Collection in Dietzhölztal. Relatively young in its 9th edition, yet more coveted with each passing year– the German Car Awards or GCOTY, is now one of the world’s most prominent auto awards programmes. It has a jury made up 29 German and 22 international automobile journalists, that includes this writer from India. There were 109 cars in the running across categories. Winners this year are diverse and yet the common theme of EVs shines through. Let me take you through each of the class winners. Don’t simply go by the names of the classes – as they are determined by a price band as well as their attributes.
GCOTY Budget Car of the Year 2027 (under € 25,000)
The newly minted class from 2026 has seen a fair amount of competition this year too. The brand new Volkswagen ID.Polo electric hatch is the winner – having fended off two hatches from Renault – the Clio and Twingo.
GCOTY Compact Car of the Year (€ 25,000 – 40,000)
Here we had a total of 31 contenders. Don’t go by the name of the class, but rather the price point as I tell you which car has won. It is the Kia PV5 – a nearly 4700 mm long large, three-row people mover! Innovative, surprisingly well positioned, and supremely comfortable to drive or be ferried about in – the PV5 stayed just ahead of two impressive electrics that are indeed more compact. Its own sibling – the EV2, and the very hot new Škoda Epiq.
GCOTY Premium Car of the Year 2027 (€ 40,000 – 70,000)
Things start getting more intense with extreme levels of competition and also engineering in this category. The winner is the formidable and very well-received new Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. This midsize SUV is the first product on the new MBEA architecture, and is initially available as an all-electric. It’s also announced for an India launch later this year. It edged out the very competent BMW iX3 – a close first runner-up here – and the Volvo EX60 in third place.
GCOTY Luxury Car of the Year 2027 (over € 70,000)
Even more ostentatious and well appointed – the luxury class pampers and excites all at once. And the winner here may be a surprise to some and no surprise to many. Opulent and well-appointed – this luxury van is representing a new class of vehicle that’s fast emerging as the choice of the well-heeled. We see this trend for super luxe vans in India too, and the Chinese EV specialist has given form to that very trend – and how. The Xpeng X9 is a very comfortable and loaded ride – strictly for the chauffeur driven. The X9 managed to fend of the Lucid Gravity (current 2026 World Luxury Car as well!) and the Polestar 5, which ended up in bronze place.
GCOTY Performance Car of the Year 2027 (class not determined by price)
No surprise at all – at least not for me – as the very capable, very exciting and extremely fun Hyundai IONIQ 6 N has taken the performance category this year. So, why am I not surprised? Simply because the car’s impressive engineering, its sheer performance metrics, its wide-smile inducing penchant, are all enough to qualify it. And if you needed further validation – its also the reigning 2026 World Performance Car! Need I say more? The other close contenders were the Renault 5 Turbo 3ER in second place and the Polestar 5 in third.
This year the GCOTY Awards have added some further honours – and while these segment awardees will not go into the final running for overall GCOTY, they recognise core strengths and innovations these cars bring to the market. So these are new awards – introduced for the very first time. First up is the ‘Powertrain of the Year’. And would you find it surprising that its from Zuffenhausen? The winner is the Porsche 911 Turbo S – 3.6-litre twin-turbo flat-six T-Hybrid with two electric turbochargers and an electric motor integrated into the 8-speed PDK, producing 711 bhp and 800 Nm, with all-wheel drive.
Next we have the ‘Family Car of the Year’. And here is a car I expected could just have won it all – the very impressive new Škoda Peaq. The new flagship of the Czech brand justifies its positioning through poise, innovation, perfection and comfort.
The ‘Value Award’ goes to the Geely E2 – a car we are completely unfamiliar with – as the brand does not exist in India (yet!). The parent of Volvo has been giving the world some rather well-built cars off late though. And finally there are two new awards for design.
The ‘Exterior Design of the Year’ goes to the Renault Twingo – the legendary cute and super subcompact hatch has been reimagined for a modern era – and carries a recognisable styling language, while staying very modern and contemporary. And for the ‘Interior Design of the Year’ a car that was also expected to win something for sure – the BMW iX3 – which is also the current 2026 World Car of the Year.
Now all the attention will turn to which of the finalists will clinch the overall GCOTY title for 2027. That result will be announced on Nov 3, 2026 – after the jury votes in round two to choose a winner from amongst the 5 finalists (VW ID.Polo, Kia PV5, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Xpeng X9, and Hyundai IONIQ 6 N. Last year it was the Škoda Elroq compact electric SUV that had taken the prize ahead of the Dacia Bigster, Hyundai IONIQ 9, Cadillac Vistiq, and Lucid Air Sapphire.
Siddharth is one of the best-known faces of Indian journalism. He has set up a new media entity at Acko Tech, with the Acko Drive channel as its first platform. It focuses on bringing consumers content relevant to them from the automobile industry.
Siddharth began his career as a news journalist and features producer at the prolific NDTV network. He spent many years reporting from the field from around the world, and also was one of the country's top primetime news anchors for several years.
As the anchor and editor of the country's most-watched and longest-running automobile based programme - The Car and Bike Show, on the NDTV network, Siddharth helped evolve a new niche of auto-based viewing and programming for Indian television and on the Internet. He is a well-respected name, not just as an automobile journalist, but also as a former financial correspondent who specialises in the automobile industry.
He also conceived and began the annual carandbike Awards, and now subsequently the Acko Drive Awards, which hold the reputation of being the most non-controversial and sought-after awards for the Indian auto industry. In 2014 Siddharth helped create the digital automobile entity carandbike which now commands a massive traffic of 22 million visitors per month, and leads all digital automobile media in India on content.
He routinely travels to all parts of the world to test new cars and cover the latest in automobile design and technology. When he gets the time, he loves to cook and try new food! Siddharth holds a Master of Science degree in Communication Studies from the prestigious Pune University. He has also studied in Australia and the United States.
He has represented India on the World Car jury since 2011 and has served as Director - the first Asian to hold the post - since 2014. He also became the first Asian to be Vice Chair (2021-23), and now Chair (2024-present).
