At the 2018 New York International Auto Show the new Volvo XC60 was announced as the 2018 World Car of the Year. Finalists for the prestigious award were announced in January and included cars like the Kia Stinger, the redesigned Nissan Leaf, the Range Rover Velar, and the Mazda CX-5. It's actually the first time Volvo has ever won honors for World Car of the Year and marks the XC60's second consecutive major trophy following its win as North American Sport Utility of the Year earlier this year.

Volvo's actually been on a tear this year with the XC40 being named European Car of the Year at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, plus, the company's President and CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, was given the first ever World Car Person of the Year award. Other notable contenders for World Car of the Year included stallions like the Alfa Romeo Giulia, staples like the Toyota Camry, and standard choices like the BMW X3. The XC60 SUV was culled from an initial list of 34 vehicles as voted on by a jury of 82 journalists from all over the world.

In addition to the Volvo XC60, the World Car jury handed out the rest of its 2018 awards. The Audi A8 won World Luxury Car of the Year, World Performance Car of the Year goes to the BMW M5, World Green Car of the Year was won by the Nissan Leaf, the VW Polo was named World Urban Car of the Year, while Jaguar Land Rover was given World Car Design of the Year for its work on the Range Rover Velar.