Start the Countdown clock, the 2014 world car of the year awards announce its finalists

The countdown has begun for the 2014 World Car Awards (the WCAs) prize-giving ceremony to be hosted by the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) and Bridgestone Corporation on Thursday, April 17, 2014. Winners of the 2014 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.

The World Car Awards and the New York International Automobile Show earlier this year announced a five-year alliance that will keep the prestigious awards programme in New York City through 2018. The agreement marks the formalising of an eight-year relationship between WCA and NYIAS that has seen the awards programme grow to become the recognised number 1 premier automotive award.

Prior to the ceremony in New York, WCA’s top three finalists in all award categories will be announced at the Geneva International Motor Show on Tuesday, March 4th, 2014.

But first, a jury of sixty-nine (69) 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. For more details about our jurors, and their outlets, please visit our web site: www.wcoty.com and click < Jurors.

The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots and announced the finalists today.  

The 2014 World Car of the Year will be selected from the following finalists listed in alphabetical order.  You will note that there are 12 finalists due to a multiple tie.

• Audi A3
• BMW 4 Series
• BMW i3
• Cadillac CTS
• Citroen C4 Picasso
• Ford Fusion / Mondeo
• Infiniti Q50
• Jeep Cherokee
• Lexus IS
• Mazda3
• Peugeot 308
• Skoda Octavia

Previous World Car of the Year winners were the Volkswagen Golf in 2013, the Volkswagen Up! in 2012, the Nissan LEAF in 2011, the Volkswagen Polo in 2010, the Volkswagen Golf in 2009, the Mazda2 / Mazda Demio in 2008, the Lexus LS460 in 2007, the BMW 3-Series in 2006, and the Audi A6 in 2005.

The 2014 World Luxury Car will be chosen from one of these top ten finalists:

• Bentley Flying Spur
• BMW X5
• Cadillac ELR
• Cadillac Escalade
• Maserati Ghibli
• Maserati Quattroporte
• Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• Porsche Macan
• Range Rover Sport
• Rolls-Royce Wraith

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 2014 World Performance Car has eleven finalists due to a tie:

• Alfa Romeo 4C
• Audi RS 6 Avant
• BMW M6 Gran Coupe
• Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
• Ferrari 458 Speciale
• Ford Fiesta ST
• Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster
• Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG
• Porsche 911 GT3
• Porsche 911 Turbo
• Volkswagen Golf GTI

Previous World Performance Car winners were the Porsche Boxster/Cayman in 2013, the Porsche 911 in 2012, the Ferrari 458 Italia in 2011, the Audi R8 V10 in 2010, the Nissan GT-R in 2009, the Audi R8 in 2008, the Audi RS4 in 2007 and the Porsche Cayman S in 2006.

The 2014 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 sixty-nine jurors in their second round of voting this month.   The finalists for 2014 are:

• Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (+ Audi e-gas)
• BMW i3
• Honda Accord Hybrid
• Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
• 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)

Cars eligible for the 2014 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, 2013 and ending May 30th, 2014.  Candidates may be pre-production or all-new production.

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 design experts 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)

The finalists for the jurors are:

• BMW i3
• Cadillac CTS
• Citroen C4 Picasso
• Mazda3
• Lexus IS
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class
• Volkswagen XL1