What will be World Car of the Year?
The countdown to the March announcement begins now that the 10 finalists have been named. David Linklater reports.
The car-awards season is not over yet. Still to come is the World Car Awards (WCA) 2018, which will be announced on March 28 at the New York International Auto Show.
Finalists have been announced, covering six different categories: World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car, World Car Design of the Year and the World Urban Car.
A jury of 82 international motoring journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot, based on their evaluation with each candidate as part of their professional work. Accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots.
There will also be an overall World Car of the Year.
The 2018 World Car of the Year winner will be selected from the following 10 finalists, listed in alphabetical order: Alfa Romeo Giulia, BMW X3, Kia Stinger, Land Rover Discovery, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Leaf, Range Rover Velar, Toyota Camry, Volkswagen T-Roc and Volvo XC60.
The 2018 World Urban Car will be chosen from one of these top five finalists: Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Kona, Nissan Micra, Suzuki Swift and Volkswagen Polo.
The 2018 World Luxury Car top five finalists are as follows: Audi A8, BMW 6-series Gran Turismo, Lexus LS, Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Panamera.
The 2018 World Performance Car top five finalists are: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, Audi RS 3 sedan, BMW M5, Honda Civic Type R and Lexus LC 500.
There are four finalists in the 2018 World Green Car category. They are: BMW 530e iPerformance, Chevrolet Cruze diesel, Chrysler Pacifica hybrid and Nissan Leaf.
This year, the cars eligible for the 2018 World Car Design of the Year award could be any of the contenders competing in the six award categories.
A design panel consisting of seven experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a shortlist of recommendations for the jurors. The five chosen are: Citroen C3 Aircross, Lexus LC 500, Range Rover Velar, Renault Alpine A110 and Volvo XC60.
The road to WCA began in Frankfurt on September 19, 2017 and was followed by test drives conducted at the BMW Tokyo Bay facility in October, giving jurors another opportunity to evaluate contenders that might not be available in their home markets.
The fourth annual LA Test Drives WCA event took place across a six-day period in November with a record number of 35 jurors participating.
The next stop will be at the Geneva International Auto Show on Tuesday, March 6 when the top three finalists in all categories will be announced.
The journey ends on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 when World Car opens the New York International Auto Show and declares winners in all categories.
WCA was inaugurated in 2003 and officially launched in January 2004. The organisers say the awards are intended to complement, not compete, with existing national and regional Car of the Year programmes.
The awards are administered by a not-for-profit association, under the guidance of a steering committee of automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America.
Previous World Car of the Year winners include the Jaguar F-Pace (2017), Mazda MX-5 (2016) and Mercedes-Benz C-class (2015).
Audi has won more awards in the programme than any other maker (eight), followed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz (seven each).
A jury of 82 international motoring journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot, based on their evaluation with each candidate as part of their professional work.