BYD Executive Vice President is the first woman to receive the coveted award
The World Car Person of the Year is the award that recognises each year a global automotive manager who has made a significant contribution to the industry during the previous calendar year.
For 2025, the jury of 96 journalists from all over the world voted Stella Li, Executive Vice-President of BYD: the ‘Electric Car Lady’, who we had the opportunity to interview during 2024, and who sits on the dashboard of one of the world’s largest automotive companies.
The coveted award was won by a Chinese brand and a woman in both cases for the first time ever. According to the association’s press release, Stella Li has proved to be a key figure in BYD’s international growth in 2024, organising a series of major global model debuts, the brand’s entry into new markets and making a significant contribution to surpassing the goal of producing 10 million ‘new energy’ cars, i.e. electric or hybrid.
The two finalists who were beaten were: Ralph Gilles, Head of Design at Stellantis, and Simon Humphries, Toyota‘s Chief Branding Officer and Head of Global Brand Design.
The World Car of the Year 2025 award will be presented on 16 April at the New York International Auto Show.
A reminder of who has won past editions of the World Car Person of the Year award:
Read also: