And Then There Was One... The Fast One - The World Performance Car Of The Year goes too........

The AUDI R8 COUPE has been declared the 2016 World Performance Car during today’s press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show, Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum.

Audi AG is no stranger to the World Car Awards program – now in its 12th year.  Audi cars have previously won seven times as follows: 

2014 World Car of the Year - Audi A3

2010 World Performance Car - Audi R8 V10

2008 World Performance Car - Audi R8

2008 World Car Design of the Year - Audi R8

2007 World Performance Car - Audi RS4

2007 World Car Design of the Year - Audi TT

2005 World Car of the Year - Audi A6

The AUDI R8 COUPE was chosen from an initial entry list of nine cars from all over the world, then a short list of ten, then three finalists:  today’s winner as well as the Honda Civic Type R and the Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 Coupé.

“We are delighted that the Audi R8 has been voted as the 2016 World Performance Car,” said Dietmar Voggenreiter, Board Member for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG.  “With its distinctive design, its driving dynamics and its closeness to racing, the R8 is one of the strongest calling cards for the four rings and is the flagship car from Audi Sport. The first generation of the R8 paved our way toward becoming a premium brand and raised the aura of Audi to a new level.  The new R8 will continue this success story and further accelerate the growth strategy of Audi Sport.”

The World Car Awards jurors observed:  “Arguably, Audi's Le Mans-inspired R8 has been the most desirable, head-turning supercar of the decade. And now the latest Coupe version has won the World Performance Car 2016 title, successfully claiming the crown after seeing off stiff competition from America, Asia and Europe. Yet despite its racing car heritage and cutting edge technology it's a surprisingly easy and manageable car to drive - fast or slow.”    

Candidates for 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.  Candidates may be chosen from the World Car of the Year list of eligible vehicles, or they may be newly introduced variants that satisfy the same criteria, but are derived from existing rather than brand-new models. In all cases, they must have a minimum annual production rate of five-hundred (500) vehicles.

Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of 73 top-level automotive journalists from 23 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.   Through their respective outlets they collectively reach an audience of many millions world-wide.   The international accounting firm KPMG tabulates the jurors’ ballots.

Previous World Performance Car winners were the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT (2015), then three Porsche wins in a row:  the 911 GTE in 2014, the Boxster/Cayman in 2013, and the 911 in 2012.    Ferrari won the 2011 World Performance title for the 458 Italia while the Audi R8 V10 won 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 Road to World Car began in Frankfurt on September 15, was followed by a four and a half day stop in Los Angeles for test-drives of the North American, Japanese and Swedish contenders in November, continued in Geneva with the Top Three in the World announcement, and finally ended today with the declaration of the winners in five categories at the New York International Auto Show.

2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the partnership between World Car and the New York show, and the third consecutive year that the World Car Awards have retained their ranking as the number one automotive awards program in the world in terms of media reach.

The Global Trends Report, co-presented by Prime Research and Autoneum, was presented just before the winners’ press conference.   Autoneum CEO Martin Hirzel said, “The findings of the Global Trends Report show clearly that sound inside the driver cabin has major influence on the overall evaluation of a car. Since decades, we from Autoneum are experts in the field of noise reduction for vehicles. Our lightweight and multifunctional products support the car manufacturers to reduce emission, noise and heat and thereby lead to an enhanced driving comfort for the end-customer. The global need for our products confirms us in further focusing on driving innovation in acoustic and thermal management solutions.”

The World Car Awards media breakfast and winners’ press conference at the New York International Auto Show is presented by Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company.  This is the 8th year Bridgestone has sponsored World Car of the Year. “The future of the auto industry will be built on innovation, performance and sustainability – from automakers and also their suppliers,” said Mike Martini, president, original equipment tire sales, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. “Bridgestone invests heavily in research and product development to ensure that we continue to deliver world-class products in collaboration and partnership with automakers around the world.”

As the global nature of the industry continues to strengthen, and the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, World Car is proud to be a part of this amazing journey along with the New York International Auto Show, Prime Research, Bridgestone, Autoneum, KPMG and Newspress.