…to be announced on Thursday.
Picking the South African Car of the Year must have been difficult enough. Picking the World Car must be even more difficult.
The journey on The Road to the World Car is coming to an end in just a few days from now, so watch this space! Any guesses?
The 2015 World Car Awards prize-giving ceremony will be announced on Thursday, April 2 after the press days of the New York International Auto Show starting on Wednesday. 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 seventy-five distinguished international automotive journalists selected the following finalists in the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car and World Performance Car categories by secret ballot based on their experience with each candidate as part of their professional work.
The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots and announced the finalists today.
The 2015 World Car of the Year will be selected from the following TEN finalists listed in alphabetical order:
- BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
- Citroën C4 Cactus
- Ford Mustang
- Hyundai Genesis
- Jeep Renegade
- Mazda2
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
- MINI 5 door / MINI 4 door Hard Top
- Nissan Qashqai
- Volkswagen Passat
The 2015 World Luxury Car will be chosen from one of these top ten finalists:
- BMW i8
- BMW X6
- Cadillac ATS Coupe
- Cadillac Escalade/ESV
- Kia K900
- Lexus NX
- Lexus RC
- Lincoln MKC
- Mercedes-Benz S Coupe
- Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB
The 2015 World Performance Car top ten finalists are:
- Audi S1
- Audi S3
- Audi TT / TTS
- Bentley Continental GT Speed
- BMWM4 Coupe/M3 Sedan
- Corvette Z06
- Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
- Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe
- Lexus RC-F
- Mercedes-Benz AMG GT
The 2015 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 75 jurors in their second round of voting this month.
The 2015 World Green Car finalists are:
- BMW i8
- Hyundai x35/Tucson Fuel Cell
- Kia Soul EV
- Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine
- Volkswagen Golf GTE
Cars eligible for the 2015 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, 2014 and ending May 31, 2015. Candidates may be pre-production or all-new production.
The 2015 World Car Design of the Year award finalists are:
- BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
- Citroën C4 Cactus
- Mercedes C-Class
- Porsche Macan
- Volvo XC90
The Road to the World Car began in Paris on October 2, followed by a stop in Los Angeles for a test-drive of the North American contenders in November, and continues with the finalists’ announcement. 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. The journey ends at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 2nd, 2015 when all winners are declared.
