Kia won three 2026 Golden Steering Wheel awards in Germany with the EV2, EV5 and K4 Sportswagon, a first for any non-European brand in the award's 50 years. Specs, euro and dollar prices, and US availability.
Photo: Kia
For half a century, Germany's Golden Steering Wheel has mostly been a contest German and other European carmakers win at home. On Tuesday night in Berlin, a Korean brand took three of the nine trophies. Kia won with the EV2, the EV5 and the K4 Sportswagon, and became the first non-European brand to win three Golden Steering Wheels in a single year.
The awards were announced November 10 at the 50th edition of the competition, run by the magazine AUTO BILD and the Sunday paper BILD am SONNTAG. Two of Kia's three winners are electric. Neither of those two is planned for the United States.
The Goldenes Lenkrad is one of the oldest car awards in Europe, and the way it is judged gives it weight. This year the editors nominated 90 new models. Readers voted that list down to 27 finalists, three in each of nine classes. A 23-member jury of racing drivers, automotive journalists and celebrities then drove the finalists at the DEKRA Lausitzring circuit. The jury included rally champion Sébastien Ogier and former tennis star Boris Becker.
The jury scored the cars on handling, comfort, ease of use, quality, everyday practicality, sustainability and value for money. Full results appear in issue 46/2026 of both publications.
| Class | Winner | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| Best Car Under €30,000 (about $33,600) | Kia EV2 (electric) | Not published by AUTO BILD online |
| Compact SUV | Kia EV5 (electric), 4,317 points | Audi Q3 4,186; Cupra Formentor VZ5 4,105 |
| Compact Class | Kia K4 Sportswagon (gasoline), 4,278 points | VW ID.3 Neo 4,199; Cupra Born 4,186 |
One result stands out. The K4 Sportswagon is a gasoline-powered station wagon, and it beat two electric hatchbacks from the Volkswagen Group, the updated ID.3 Neo and the Cupra Born, in their own class and their own home market.
Kia had won before. What is new is the scale. No brand from outside Europe had ever taken three Golden Steering Wheels in one year. Kia now has eight in total, and the list shows how quickly its winners have shifted toward electric power:
| Year | Kia winner | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | XCeed | Best Car Under €35,000 |
| 2020 | Sorento | Large SUV |
| 2022 | Niro EV | Compact SUV |
| 2023 | EV9 | Family Car |
| 2024 | EV3 | Best Car Under €40,000 |
| 2026 | EV2, EV5, K4 Sportswagon | Under €30,000; Compact SUV; Compact Class |
Kia "offers the best overall package across various categories."
That was Robin Hornig, editor-in-chief of AUTO BILD. Soohang Chang, president and CEO of Kia Europe, said the three wins show "the strength and variety" of Kia's European lineup. He also pointed out that the EV2 is developed, engineered and built in Europe.
The EV2 is the headline winner because of its price. It is Kia's smallest and cheapest electric car, built in Žilina, Slovakia, and on sale in Europe since April. AUTO BILD lists a German starting price of €26,600. We covered the long-range version in detail when it was priced. Here is how the three winners compare.
| Spec | Kia EV2 | Kia EV5 | Kia K4 Sportswagon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powertrain | Electric | Electric, FWD or AWD | Turbo gasoline |
| Power | 147 PS (145 hp) | Up to 265 PS (261 hp); GT 306 PS (302 hp) | 115–180 PS (113–178 hp) |
| Battery | 42.2 kWh or 61 kWh | 81.4 kWh | None |
| WLTP range | 317 km (197 mi) / 453 km (281 mi) | 530–550+ km (329–342+ mi) | Not applicable |
| Length | 4.06 m (160 in) | 4.61 m (181 in) | About 4.70 m (185 in) |
| Cargo space | Up to 403 L (14.2 cu ft) | 566 L (20.0 cu ft) | 604 L (21.3 cu ft) |
| German base price | €26,600 (about $29,800) | €45,990 at launch (about $51,600) | Not confirmed |
| Europe launch | April 2026 | December 2025 | May 2026 |
The EV5 is a family SUV about the size of Kia's Sportage. Kia says it can tow up to 1,800 kg (about 3,970 pounds), depending on the drivetrain. Its folded rear seats give a flat load floor two meters long. The EV5 uses a 400-volt system, so it charges more slowly than Kia's 800-volt EV6 and EV9. German launch materials quoted about 30 minutes for a 10 to 80 percent charge. The GT version reaches 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.2 seconds.
The K4 Sportswagon is the practical outlier: a long-roof version of the K4 compact with turbocharged gasoline engines, 0 to 100 km/h in as little as 8.4 seconds and a top speed of up to 210 km/h (130 mph).
The short answer is no. Kia has no plans to sell the EV2 or the EV5 in the United States, and it has not announced the K4 Sportswagon for the US market. American buyers can get the K4 as a sedan and a hatchback, but not as this wagon.
The closest US equivalent is the EV3, which won the same award's under-€40,000 class in 2024. It is now on sale here from $29,890 with up to 321 miles of EPA-estimated range. Our EV3 pricing and trims guide has the details. For the European-only EV2, see our earlier report on the EV2 Long Range.
The bottom line: Europe's most traditional car award has given its biggest haul in its 50-year history to a brand from outside Europe, and two of the three winners are affordable EVs. Kia's European-market cars are now beating European rivals in Germany, on home ground for those rivals. American buyers will see the result mostly in the EV3, which is the only one of Kia's small, affordable EVs sold in the US so far.
Related: Kia EV3 US price, range and trims · Kia EV2 Long Range: 280 miles for about €33,500
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