World Car of the Year finalists announced

Fri, 07 Mar 2014

To say the 2014 Geneva Motor Show was packed full of news is an understatement as big as the show's home at the Palexpo convention center. Despite everything that we were able to cover during this year's show, there's still more coming out of Switzerland, including the announcement of the finalists for the 2014 World Car of the Year Awards.

We reported on the original list of finalists over three weeks ago, and now, that initial list has been pared down to three finalists for each of the five awards. The finalists were announced at a press conference by frequent Autoblog contributor and co-chair of the awards, Matt Davis (above).

The finalists for the overall title of 2014 World Car of the Year are the Audi A3, the BMW 4 Series and the Mazda3. The World Luxury Car of the Year will be either the Bentley Flying Spur, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, while the Performance Car of the Year will be awarded to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the Ferrari 458 Speciale or the Porsche 911 GT3 (which, um, yeah...).

Rounding out the trophy contenders are the finalists for World Green Car of the Year, which include the Audi A3 Sportback G-Tron and Audi E-Gas, the BMW i3 and the Volkswagen XL1. Finally, World Car Design of the Year will be contested by the BMW i3, Mazda3 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

The winners will be announced in April, at the 2014 New York International Auto Show. Scroll down for the official press release from the World Car of the Year committee.

Top Three Finalists Announced in All World Car Awards Categories

Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary

AND NOW THERE ARE THREE ...

Top Three Finalists Announced in All World Car Awards Categories

GENEVA - March 4, 2014 - For Immediate Release

At a press conference hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and the New York International Auto Show at the Geneva International Motor Show, the top three finalists for the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year awards were announced today.

The overall winners in all categories will be declared at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 17, 2014.

World Car of the Year

From an initial entry list of twenty-four new vehicles from all over the world, then a short list of finalists, the top three contenders for the overall 2014 World Car of the Year title have been revealed.

They are, in alphabetical order by manufacturer:

- Audi A3
- BMW 4 Series
- Mazda3.

To be eligible for the overall World Car award, the candidates must become available for sale on at least two continents during the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending May 31, 2014.

Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of sixty-nine top-level automotive journalists from twenty-two countries around the world. Each juror was appointed by the World Car Awards' Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence. Each juror typically drives and evaluates new vehicles on a regular basis as part of their professional work. All hold significant stature within their own regions and countries.

World Luxury Car

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 top three finalists are:

- Bentley Flying Spur
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class
- Range Rover Sport

World Performance Car

This year, we were faced with a vast array of legitimate performers from every price bracket imaginable. The top three finalists are:

- Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
- Ferrari 458 Speciale
- Porsche 911 GT3

World Green Car

The World Green Car award is presented by Bridgestone Corporation for the past seven years.

Five experts in "green" technology are appointed annually 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.

The jurors chose these top three finalists for 2014:

- Audi A3 Sportback g-tron (+ Audi e-gas)
- BMW i3
- Volkswagen XL1

The five experts on the advisory panel are in alphabetical order: Phil Berg (USA - PopularMechanics.com); Richard Bremner (U.K. Autocar magazine), Claus-Peter Koeth (Germany - automobil-industrie.de); Yumi Kawabata (Japan-environmental journalist) and John Voelcker (USA - GreenCarReports.com)

World Car Design of the Year

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 jurors chose the following top three finalists:

- BMW i3
- Mazda3
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The design experts for 2014 are Masatsugu Arimoto (Japan – freelance design journalist); Silvia Baruffaldi (Italy – Auto & Design magazine); Gernot Bracht (Germany – Pforzheim Design School); Sam Livingstone (U.K. - Car Design Research and Royal College of Art) and Tom Matano (USA - School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco)

About the World Car Awards

Now in their tenth year, the annual World Car Awards are now the number one awards program in the world based on Prime Research's 2013 report. 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.

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.

By Brandon Turkus