GENEVA - World Car Of The Year nominees whittled down to the top three in each segment.

The Road to the World Car journey continues with today’s announcement of the Top Three in the World finalists in five award categories at the Geneva International Motor Show.

This announcement continues the countdown for the 2015 World Car Awards (the WCAs) winners’ press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum on Thursday, April 2, 2015.   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 75 distinguished international automotive journalists selected the following “Top Three in the World” finalists 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.      

The Top Three in the World finalists in the 5 award categories are as follows:

2015 World Car of the Year:

Ford Mustang

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Volkswagen Passat 

2015 World Luxury Car:

BMW i8

Mercedes-Benz S Coupe

Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB

2015 World Performance Car:

BMW M4 Coupe/M3 Sedan

Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

2015 World Green Car:

BMW i8

Mercedes-Benz S 500 Plug-In Hybrid

Volkswagen Golf GTE

2015 World Car Design of the Year:

Citroën C4 Cactus

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

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 today at the Geneva International Auto Show.   The journey ends at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 2^nd, 2015 when all winners are declared.

The Global Trends Report, co-presented by Prime Research and Autoneum, will be revealed just before the winners’ press conference on the same day in New York. Autoneum CEO Martin Hirzel said, “Smart efficiency is the most important trend in the automobile industry. With Autoneum’s lightweight and multifunctional products for acoustic and heat management in vehicles, our smart innovations are making an important contribution to the future of the automobile.”