2013 Volkswagen Golf - World Car of the Year 2013

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
World Car Awards juror

NEW YORK, March 28, 2013. The Volkswagen Golf is the 2013 World Car of the Year.. In addition to this title, also the award winners in the three other categories of the World Car Awards have been announced.

The Porsche Boxster/Cayman is the winner of the World Performance Car of the Year, the Tesla Model S won the category of the World Green Car and the Jaguar F-Type the Design of the Car. The winners of the prestigious World Car Awards were announced this morning, at the New York International Auto Show.

The Volkswagen Golf was chosen from an initial list of 42 candidates, new models, which over the past year on at least one large market are introduced. From this list, the jury made a choice for the 10 finalists. The cars on this so-called short list are rated at some fifteen points. Many people already expected the seventh generation of the Golf would drive away with the title. Since the first Golf was introduced in 1974, the model has a huge presence worldwide.

The procedure for the election of the World Performance Car of the Year is exactly the same. In the category Green Car and Design Car, a number of jurors, who are experts in the field of ' green ' cars and car design make a pre-selection and provide a short accountability for the finalists. All jury members rate those short lists in the same way.

The World Car of the Year winner was chosen from an initial list of 42 candidates. At the Geneva motor show, the organization announced which three models in the four categories would end up on the pedestal today.

I am, as international automotive correspondent, a member of the jury of 66 from 23 countries worldwide. The World Car Awards were founded in 2003 and started with judging; the awards were first presented in April 2004.

The votes of the judges are cast directly on a private site that is hosted by KPMG. This accounting firm gives the results no sooner than just hours before the official announcement and then only to the President and both Vice Chairmen of the Organizing Committee of the WCA, respectively Eddie Alterman (United States), Peter Lyon (USA) and Matt Davis (Italy). Therefore, the manufacturers of the winning models are notified accordingly shortly before the award giving.

World Car of the Year finalists (four, as there has been an ex aequo)

Mercedes-Benz A-klasse, Porsche Boxter/Cayman, Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S and Volkswagen Golf

World Performance Car of the Year finalists:

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Porsche Boxster/Cayman, Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S

World Design Car finalists:

Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar F-Type, Mazda6

World Green Car finalists :

Renault Zoe, Tesla Model S, Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid