Car of the Year Award Winner: New Market Entry
The Premia Group, comprised of journalists specializing in the automotive industry, has chosen the Volkswagen Tera as the 2026 Car of the Year. This is the model from the German manufacturer that landed in the local market in August and is positioned as the successor to the historic Volkswagen Gol.
The Tera is a B-segment crossover, manufactured in Brazil and marketed in four versions in Argentina. Actually, in December it managed to position itself as the third best-selling model in the market, with 847 registrations, only behind the Ford Ranger (964 sales) and the Toyota Hilux (1805). looking at the details, it was the best-selling car in the market in December, given that the only models that surpassed it belong to the pickup segment.
All vehicles presented between January 1, 2025, and December 31 of the same year participated in this competition, provided they had at least one version with a public sale price, excluding models offered only in pre-sale. Another requirement for eligibility was an estimated annual production of no less than 5000 units.
The jury consisted of Matías Antico, Augusto brugo Marcó, Gabriel Silveira, Martín Simacourbe, Eduardo Smok, Gabriel Tomich, and Guido Tonelli. Each member had 25 points to distribute among the seven candidates, with the sole condition of not assigning more than 10 points to a single model.
The final result crowned the Volkswagen Tera with 51 points, the Kia K3 came in second place with 39 points, while the Renault Koleos completed the podium with 32 points.
Thus, the new model from the German automaker joins the list of