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Finalists For 2014 "World Car Awards" Announced


PHOTO

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
The Auto Channel
Jury Member World Car Awards

The Hague NL February 10, 2014. The countdown has begun for the 2014 World Car Awards (the WCAs) prize-giving ceremony to be hosted by the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) and Bridgestone Corporation on Thursday, April 17, 2014.

Winners of awards to be revealed include:

  • 2014 World Car of the Year
  • 2014 World Luxury Car
  • 2014 World Performance Car
  • 2014 World Green Car
  • 2014 World Car Design of the Year

The awards were inaugurated in 2003, and officially launched in January 2004, to reflect the reality of the global marketplace, as well as to recognize and reward automotive excellence on an international scale. The awards are intended to complement, not compete, with existing national and regional Car of the Year programs.

Together with 68 colleagues of the jury of international automotive journalists, I have made a selection by secret ballot for the finalists in three categories: World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car and World Performance Car. The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots and announced the finalists today.

For the 2014 World Car of the Year we will have to vote in detail for the following finalists (in alphabetical order). Because of a potential tie, there are 12 finalists.

Audi A3
BMW 4 Series
BMW i3
Cadillac CTS
Citroen C4 Picasso
Ford Fusion / Mondeo
Infiniti Q50
Jeep Cherokee
Lexus IS
Mazda3
Peugeot 308
Skoda Octavia

Previous World Car of the Year winners were the Volkswagen Golf in 2013, the Volkswagen Up! in 2012 and the Nissan LEAF in 2011.

The 2014 World Luxury Car will be chosen from one of these ten finalists:

Bentley Flying Spur
BMW X5
Cadillac ELR
Cadillac Escalade
Maserati Ghibli
Maserati Quattroporte
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Porsche Macan
Range Rover Sport
Rolls-Royce Wraith

This is the first year for the World Luxury Car award. This new category is created to acknowledge higher-priced premium models selling in more limited numbers worldwide.

The 2014 World Performance Car has eleven finalists due to a potential tie:

Alfa Romeo 4C
Audi RS 6 Avant
BMW M6 Gran Coupe
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Ferrari 458 Speciale
Ford Fiesta ST
Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster
Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG
Porsche 911 GT3
Porsche 911 Turbo
Volkswagen Golf GTI

Previous World Performance Car winners were the Porsche Boxster/Cayman in 2013, the Porsche 911 in 2012 and the Ferrari 458 Italia in 2011

The 2014 World Green Car category is handled differently. Five experts in ‘green’ technology were appointed by the World Car Awards Steering Committee to extensively review all documentation and specs associated with each candidate on the list of nominees. The experts then create a short-list of finalists for review by the sixty-nine jurors in their second round of voting this month. The finalists for 2014 are:

Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (+ Audi e-gas)
BMW i3
Honda Accord Hybrid
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Volkswagen XL1

Cars eligible for the 2014 World Car Design of the Year award are taken from the list of World Car candidates or may be included as a stand-alone entry provided the vehicle is available in quantities of at least 10 in one major market during the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending May 30th, 2014. Candidates may be pre-production or all-new production.

Again, a design panel consisting of five highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors. The finalists are:

BMW i3
Cadillac CTS
Citroen C4 Picasso
Mazda3
Lexus IS
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Volkswagen XL1

The World Car Awards and the New York International Automobile Show earlier this year announced a five-year alliance that will keep the prestigious awards program in New York City through 2018. The agreement marks the formalizing of an eight-year relationship between WCA and NYIAS that has seen the awards program grow to become the recognized number 1 premier automotive award.

The awards are administered by a non-profit association, under the guidance of a Steering Committee of pre-eminent automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America. Peter Lyon (Japan) and Matt Davis (Italy) are the co-chairs; John McCormick (USA), Jens Meiners (Germany), Mike Rutherford (U.K.), Eddie Alterman (USA), and Gerry Malloy (Canada) are the directors. There is no affiliation with, nor are the awards in any way influenced by any publication, auto show, automaker, or other commercial enterprise.

Prime Research International, a global leader in strategic communication research and consultancy is the World Car Awards’ research partner. Prime Research joined forces with the World Car Awards in 2009 by agreeing to track, and report on, global media coverage of our awards program. Based on Prime Research’s 2013 report, the annual World Car Awards, now in their tenth year, is the number one awards program in the world.

Stay tuned for the announcement of WCA’s top three finalists in all award categories at the Geneva International Motor Show on Tuesday, March 4th, 2014.