Global search continues
The initial finalists in the World Car Awards have been announced
WHILE all eyes locally are on the SA Car of the Year competition, the countdown is also continuing to the announcement of the World Car Awards after the announcement of the finalists in all five award categories. The winners will be announced at the New York International Auto Show on 2 April. Winners of the 2015 World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year will all be declared at this time.
A jury of 75 international automotive journalists selected the following finalists in the categories by secret ballot, based on their experience with each candidate as part of their professional work. International accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots and announced the finalists.
The
(WCoty) will be selected from the following 10 finalists: BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, Citroën C4 Cactus, Ford Mustang, Hyundai Genesis, Jeep Renegade, Mazda2, MercedesBenz C-Class, Mini 5-door/4door, Nissan Qashqai and Volkswagen Passat.
The will be chosen from the BMW i8, BMW X6, Cadillac ATS coupe Cadillac Escalade/ESV, Kia K900, Lexus NX, Lexus RC, Lin- coln MKC, Mercedes-Benz SClass coupe and the Range Rover Autobiography Black long wheelbase. In the
category, the finalists are: Audi S1, Audi S3, Audi TT/TTS, Bentley Continental GT Speed, BMW M3/M4, Corvette Z06, Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, Jaguar F-Type R coupe, Lexus RC-F and the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT.
The
cat- egory is handled differently to the others. 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 shortlist of finalists for review by the 75 jurors in their second round of voting this month.
The finalists for 2015 are the BMW i8, the Hyundai x35 Fuel Cell, the Kia Soul EV, the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine and the Volkswagen Golf GTE.
Cars eligible for the World Car Design of the Year award are taken from the list of World Car candidates or may be included as a standalone entry provided the vehicle is available in quantities of at least 10 in one major market during the period beginning January 1, 2014 and ending May 31, 2015.
Candidates may be pre-pro- duction or all-new production.
Again, a design panel consisting of five highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, then establish a shortlist of recommendations for the jurors.
This year the five finalists chosen for the jurors are the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroën C4 Cactus, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Porsche Macan and the Volvo XC90.
The road to the World Car winner began in Paris in October last year, followed by a stop in Los Angeles for a test-drive of the North American contenders in November, and continues with the latest announcement of the finalists.
The next stop is at the Geneva International Auto Show on Tuesday, March 3 when the top three finalists in all categories will be announced before the winners are declared in New York in April.