2025 World Car Person of the Year Announced, BYD Executive Vice-President Stella Li Bags Honour

Stella Li, Vice President of BYD, has made history by becoming the first woman to win the World Car Person of the Year award. This recognition is part of the World Car of the Year (WCOTY) and also marks the first time a Chinese automaker has won an official WCOTY award. Li's leadership has played a key role in BYD's strategic growth and global expansion, reaching new milestones in 2024. To those unaware, 2024 recipients of the World Car Person of the Year award include Adrian Newey OBE, former CTO of Red Bull Racing, who is set to join Aston Martin’s Formula One team in 2024.

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A panel of 96 international automotive journalists from 30 countries, including Dhruv Behl, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of autoX, chose Li for her valuable contributions to the automotive industry. Her leadership has helped BYD achieve significant progress, including launching new models, entering new markets, and reaching the milestone of producing its 10-millionth new energy vehicle. These successes highlight Li's influence and position her as a key figure in the future of the global automotive industry.

Jens Meiners, World Car Awards Chair Emeritus,  said: ‘Stella Li has impressed the World Car judging panel with her exceptional work as a key figure in BYD’s continued global growth. Her international vision and drive have seen BYD become a major player on the automotive stage in a short space of time, and her influence is not only felt within BYD, but across the automotive industry as a whole. We’re delighted to announce Stella as the 2025 World Car Person of the Year.’

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2025 World Car Person of the Year, Stella Li said: ‘I am incredibly honoured to receive this prestigious award. This award is the result of the 1,10,000 R&D engineers at BYD who continue to provide us with the latest technological advances that are reflected in our electric vehicles and Super Hybrid DM-i technology. I am glad to play my part in putting these sustainable technologies in the hands of as many consumers as possible around the world.’

2025 World Car of the Year Top 10 Finalists Announced

The World Car Awards has announced the top ten finalists vying for the 2025 World Car of the Year title, along with the top five finalists in six other categories, including World Electric Car, World Performance Car, and World Luxury Car. The 'Top Three in the World' for each category will be revealed in April. Winners will be announced live at the 2025 New York International Auto Show. This year's awards also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the partnership between the World Car Awards and the New York International Auto Show.