World Car of the Year Announces Top Finalists
The countdown continues in preparation for the 2009 World Car Awards winners’ press conference at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday.
From an initial entry list of fifty-one new vehicles from all over the world, then a short list of ten finalists, the top three contenders for the overall 2009 World Car title have been announced and are:
- Ford Fiesta
- Toyota iQ
- Volkswagen Golf VI
To be eligible for the overall World Car Award, the vehicle must have been in production, and sold, on at least two continents during 2008.
Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of fifty-nine top-level automotive journalists from twenty-five countries around the world. Each juror was appointed by the World Car 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.
Three additional winners for the World Performance Car, World Green Car Award, and the World Car Design of the Year will also be announced at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday.
The World Performance Car award must demonstrate a specific and overt sports/performance orientation while satisfying the same availability criteria as for the overall World Car of the Year Award.
The top three finalists for the 2009 World Performance Car Award, presented by Mobil 1, are:
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
- Nissan GT-R
- Porsche 911 Carrera
To be eligible for the 2009 World Green Car Award, a vehicle had to be available in at least one major market during 2008. The vehicle or the green technology could be in production or an experimental prototype with potential near-future application, as long as it was released for individual or press fleet evaluations in quantities of ten or more during 2008. Tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and use of a major advanced power plant technology, aimed specifically at increasing the vehicle’s environmental responsibility, were all taken into consideration.
Due to the complexity of some of the ‘green’ technologies, three green experts were appointed by the World Car Steering Committee to review all documentation and specs associated with each candidate.
The fifty-nine member jury chose the following top three finalists for the 2009 World Green Car Award:
- Honda FCX Clarity
- Mitsubishi iMiEV
- Toyota iQ
Cars eligible for the 2009 World Car Design of the Year Award are taken from the list of World Car candidates. The top three design finalists are:
- Citroen C5 Sedan/C5 Tourer
- Fiat 500
- Jaguar XF
The 2006 World Car was the BMW 3-Series while the Lexus LS460 took home the honor of being the 2007 World Car of the Year. Last year’s 2008 World Car of the Year was the Mazda2/Mazda Demio.
The World Car Awards began 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 a global 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 automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America. There is no affiliation with, nor are the awards in any way influenced by any publication, auto show, automaker, or other commercial enterprise.
For more information, visit www.wcoty.com.
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For me personally I think that the Ford Fiesta will take top honors here. This new model is just hot I have been seeing them on the road and what a different look they have compared to the previous model.
But we will have to just wait and see I could be very off the mark here
[...] Tuesday, I wrote about the 2009 World Car Awards and the top contenders in each category and since the winners were announced yesterday, I can [...]