Despite not being offered in the United States, Chinese vehicles seem to be everywhere you look. Even people like Ford CEO Jim Farley seem to be captivated by cars like the Xiaomi SU7. On the global stage, China’s presence is even more readily felt, so perhaps it’s fitting that 2025 would see the first Chinese automaker win something at the World Car Awards (WCA). Stella Li, Executive Vice President of BYD, was named World Car Person of the Year following the brand’s widespread successes in 2024.
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BYD
First woman winner, first World Car Award for a Chinese brand
Li is the first woman to win the award in its 21-year run, and her employer is the first Chinese automaker to take an award home. BYD’s successes with her at the helm, with the Sealion 7’s 23,000-rpm electric motor being specifically mentioned, were enough to clinch the win. Notably, she’s also President of BYD Americas, a role she was appointed to in February 2010. To say the company has come a long way since then is probably selling them, and her, short.
Li isn’t a stranger to victories, though, having won awards from groups like the US-China Policy Foundation and Forbes China. Upon receiving the newest accolade – symbolically, the actual awarding takes place in April at the New York International Auto Show – Li was quick to share the spotlight.
“The award is the result of the 110,000 R&D engineers at BYD who continue to provide us with the latest technological advances that are reflected in our electric vehicles,” she said.
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Xiaomi Automotive via Weibo
Close competition from Stellantis and Toyota
You’ll likely recognize the other two finalists as designers who hail from brands much more familiar to US readers. The first was Ralph Gilles, Chief Design Officer at Stellantis, who was credited by the WCA with debuting models that look to add a little bit of spark to the struggling automaker, namely the new Charger and electric Wagoneer.
Next is Simon Humphries, Chief Branding Officer and Senior General Manager of Design at Toyota. He has been with the brand since 1994 and currently oversees the “brand direction.” WCA credits him with landmark new design language across the Toyota and Lexus brands, namely the ninth-generation Camry and the new Land Cruiser.
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Toyota
World Car Awards is one of the largest global awards programs
The WCA is the largest awards program by reach in the world, with a global audience in excess of 300 million. Each year, a team of automotive journalists is assembled and tasked with handing out seven different awards for various “best of” categories. The journalist jurors hail from all over the world, with this year’s 96-juror team representing 30 different countries.
Final thoughts
Li’s win is just another sign that the times are changing, even in traditionally slow-moving sectors like automotive. It’s also a grim reminder that even though the US isn’t seeing Chinese-made EVs anytime soon, the global marketplace seems to have overwhelmingly embraced them. Hopefully, US automakers and buyers won’t get left in the dust.
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