The Chevrolet Cruze is one of 10 finalists for the World Car of the Year award, as selected by a jury of 59 international automotive journalists, based on their experience with each candidate as part of their professional work. The jury members constitute a balance of representation from Asia, Europe, North America, South America, as well as other parts of the world including South Africa’s very own Hannes Oosthuizen from Car Magazine.
The Chevrolet Cruze is in very good company indeed and the 2010 World Car of the Year will be selected from the following ten vehicles :-
The all new Chevrolet Cruze, Audi Q5, BMW X1, Kia Soul, Mazda3, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Opel Insignia/Buick Regal, Porsche Panamera, Toyota Prius, Volkswagen Polo.
The Chevrolet “Cruzed” into the local South African market at its introduction in September last year. Designed as Chevrolet’s first world car – the Chevrolet Cruze immediately sailed into the monthly top ten passenger NAAMSA vehicle sales at launch and continues to create huge interest where it is displayed, owned or driven.
“Being a finalist for the World Car of the Year confirms the momentum behind Cruze,” says Jim Campbell, Chevrolet General Manager. “More than 125,000 customers in Asia and Europe have already chosen the all-new Cruze. That strong acceptance on the world stage makes us confident that Cruze will be successful here in the U.S. as well when it goes on sale in the third quarter of this year.”
Chevrolet Cruze 1.8 has already earned the top rating of five stars from the European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP). According to EuroNCAP, Cruze is the first passenger car to receive maximum scores in both the frontal offset collision test and side impact crash test since EuroNCAP began providing crash test ratings in 1997. Cruze also received best-in-class, five-star crash safety ratings in the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) testing in Australia, and the Chinese New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) testing in China.
A World Performance Car of the year will also be announced. Now in its seventh year, the WCOTY organisation will also select a World Green Car and a World Car Design of the Year – The Chevrolet Camaro is one of four finalists for the World Car Design of the Year, as selected by a jury of five design experts from around the world.
According to Yahoo!, Camaro was the most-searched vehicle in 2009. Camaro has also received the Popular MechanicsAutomotive Excellence Award, and was named an All-Star by Automobile Magazine.
The 59 jurors’ next step is to re-evaluate the “top ten” cars, and “top four” design finalists, in preparation for a final round of voting in February. They will specifically rate each vehicle in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal, and significance.
The top three in these categories will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday, March 2nd, and the final winners at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 1.
For more information about the World Car of the Year award jurors and process, please visit
