GENEVA - The top three in each category has been announced for the World Car Of The Year.

The Road to 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 2016 World Car Awards winners’ press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum on Thursday, March 24, 2016. Winners of the 2016 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.

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 annually by Prime Research and Autoneum, will also be announced during the New York show press conference and media breakfast. The report is the culmination of research and insights across the past six months. During this period, the introduction of stricter test procedures for vehicles became a heavily discussed topic within the automotive industry. Autoneum CEO Martin Hirzel emphasized: 

“The planned changes in test cycles such as the switch from the New European Driving Cycle (NEFC) to the Worldwide Harmonized Light-Duty Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) and the introduction of Real Driving Emissions (RDE) will favour Autoneum’s efficiency-boosting technologies and products like engine encapsulations and aerodynamic underfloor systems. 

More stringent test procedures will help us to reveal the full potential of our multifunctional products with regard to less fuel consumption and lower CO₂ emissions of cars.”

A jury of 73 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 five award categories are as follows:

2016 World Car of the Year:

• Audi A4 Sedan / Audi A4 Avant
• Mazda MX-5
• Mercedes-Benz GLC

2016 World Luxury Car:

• Audi Q7
• BMW 7 Series
• Volvo XC90

2016 World Performance Car:

• Audi R8 Coupe
• Honda Civic Type R
• Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupé

2016 World Green Car:

• Chevrolet Volt
• Toyota Mirai (Hydrogen Fuel Cell)
• Toyota Prius (Hybrid)

2016 World Car Design of the Year:

• Jaguar XE
• Mazda CX-3
• Mazda MX-5

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, and continues with today’s Top Three in the World announcement. The journey ends at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, March 24, 2016 when all winners are declared.

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

Euro NCAP results for Nine new models released just before the Frankfurt Auto Show.

Good crashworthiness and improved availability of front crash prevention systems resulted in top ratings in latest round of Euro NCAP’s tests ahead of the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. 

Out of nine new models released this month, seven earn the top rating of five stars and two earn a rating of four stars.

The luxury SUV’s Volvo XC90 and Audi Q7 went at it head-to-head. Both aced Euro NCAP’s latest crashworthiness requirements, but it was the XC90 that made the biggest impression by earning full marks in the crash avoidance and driver assistance tests. 

The top ratings for the VW Touran and Ford's Galaxy and S-MAX MPV siblings are good news for families with kids, offering at least two rear seating positions compliant with the latest i-Size standard for child restraints as standard. The list of top achievers is completed with Renault Kadjar and the new Toyota Avensis, both delivering an excellent safety performance across the board.

Good occupant protection still is the back bone of a top rating in Euro NCAP, but the availability and performance of avoidance and driver support systems, that will ultimately pave the way for highly automated vehicles, is becoming increasingly important. The Mazda CX-3 and the pick-up Mitsubishi L200 offer good overall safety but are rated 4 stars as the L200 is not fitted with autonomous emergency braking system, while the Mazda CX-3 offers AEB as an option but with an expected low uptake.

TMW - The Motoring World Car Of The Year award goes to............

To take the first annual "The Motoring World" Car Of The Year Award is going to be a tough ask, 2014 has seen lots of great cars come and go, we have had some huge launches like the Volvo XC-90, Mazda MX-5, Jaguar XE and Discovery Sport, just to name a very small number, but what constitutes a winner, it has to be good at everything it does, it has to be good looking, and it has to challenge the rest, and beat them.

So, we need to find a car that has been a massive step up from the car it replaces, or is such a significant step for the relevant brand, and here we have that, our winner has good looks, in our eyes at least, it is a good design, not fussy, just good lines, that show the car off to a degree that it just oozes quality, comfort and sportiness in one package.

So

THE FIRST ANNUAL 2014 CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER 

Goes to..............

The Peugeot 308, comes in hatch and SW guises for Europe, for now at least, and the 308R Concept would be a great addition to the range, the car has it all, from the tablet focused interior, wrap round rear lights that have the claw effect, the 308 is one of the  best cars around and certainly in it's class it is the best. 

The Golf is just to boring, the Focus is too lardy, The Astra is old, the family member C4 is nowhere to be seen in its company, and cars like the Pulsar from Nissan, Civic from Honda and Auris from Toyota are not special enough.

The attention to detail inside the 308 is as good as cars far more expensively made, with a good seating position, comfortable, supportive seats, and lots of room and space to stash things away, really what else do you need in a car, well, the price, it is comparable with the competition, but discounts can be had, which is something the brand is trying to get away from, and to try and increase its margin, but haggle hard and you will get a decent discount, or try online, if your willing to give that a punt.

So, for this, our first annual Car Of The Year awards, The Motoring World is really pleased to say that the 308 is our, Car Of The Year 2014, congratulations to Peugeot, this is a well deserved win.

Jon Mower

TMW

TMW - The 2014 large SUV/Crossover winner is............................

LARGE CROSSOVER/SUV - For Families or those that like to Lord it over the rest of us

DISCOVERY 4 - getting extremely old now, but still one of the class leaders, its look has been tweaked over the years, but time is not a great friend to car design, and the Discovery is now well past it's sell by date.

RANGE ROVER - The daddy of all 4x4's, this is the car that started it all off way back in the early 1970's, the classic Ranger was a stunning car that's been improved and moved up market with each variation, its now in the uber car category, along with Bentley, Rolls, Maserati and the like.

JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE - The SRT version of this car is a stunning, storming piece of automotive excellence, Jeep continue to improve month after month, and the Grand Cherokee has helped to push the parent company into high sales and improved market share.

MAZDA CX-5 - the CX-5 was one we tested a while ago, now, it was a great looking car, but a car in this sort of price category needs to be better than great, it needs to be exceptional, the new face lifted version was previewed here, recently as a leaked picture or two appeared, will it beat the daddy or the brash US cousin, well see.

AUDI Q7 - The Q7 is one of those vehicles that does everything nicely, as you would expect from supposed German precision, but the Q7 does not really stand out, apart from it's size, that is, cars in the bracket need to stand out, and i feel this does not, but over all, its a great package.

VOLVO XC-90 - Well, after years and years of waiting we at long last have the new XC-90, and wow, was that wait worth it, with the worries of whether the brand would suffer under Chinese ownership, this new SUV, as well as the complete refresh of the rest of the range, has shown the Chinese are happy to let Volvo do it right, and the sales, and profits show that this is working extremely well.

--------------------

Like the small SUV nominations, the large sector also has two from Land Rover, the first being the evergreen Discovery 4 (LR4), this has been around now for a long long LONG time, with virtually no visual changes from the '3', and its latest changes have given it a much needed boost to life, will it be enough to see it through to the replacement Discovery 5, or whatever LR decides to name this all new car, for the existing model, you can tell your in the LR4 as it looks very dated, and not like any of the Range Rover models, which brings us nicely onto the next one.

The daddy of the off roaders is of course the Range Rover, its been around now for over 40 years, and with each new model, it notches it's self up a gear, becoming more luxurious and more expensive, yet it is still more than capable off road, which is evident when LR states quite clearly that all its cars will be built for off road ability as well as on road comfort and speed, the high up stance of the RR gives the driver that air of grandeur, that not many other cars can.

The US version, the Grand Cherokee, is a better bet, its cheaper, as well screwed together, in SRT trim is a storming car, and its interior is of a better quality than ever before, but when your spending money in the numbers you need to, to buy these cars, could you be tempted to buy a Jeep, over a Range Rover, personally, yes i could, but could i stomach the depreciation, the answer to that is a resounding NO.

The Mazda CX-5 could be placed in the small SUV section, but it is quite big, and very well put together, like all modern Mazda's, the KODO-Soul of motion and Skyactive technology has breathed over the CX-5 to make this a very capable car, it is extremely comfortable, and quiet, it has loads of toys, especially the further up the range you go, fuel consumption is better than average in this group of cars, and the residuals are not to shabby either, but like the Jeep, is it a choice that could draw people out of their Range Rovers, yes, it could, more so than the Jeep, but will it, only time and surveys can answer that.

Now we have the one car that can beat the Range Rover at its own game, and that's the AUDI Q7, a massive car, and that's an understatement, the Q7 is huge all over, and is very imposing when standing next to one, but like the RR, it is very well put together, very quiet and capable off road, not quite as good as the RR, but not far off, the AUDI, is nothing to look at either, its like the rest of the Audi range, and that's where it falls down, it needs to have some sort of difference, once it has that, it will definitely fight for outright wins.

And lastly we have the Volvo XC-90, at long last Volvo has replaced the large Sports utility vehicle, the car that was once its best seller, and the car that kept Volvo from going into a downward spiral, but time has passed, and with each year the XC-90 never got replaced, but here we are today, the all new XC-90, the start of a mass resurgence of the brand under new Chinese ownership, it's looks are subjective, but it has be said that this car is probably the most important car for any manufacturer, it will either make or break Volvo, especially in the USA, where sales have dropped year on year for many years.

THE 2014 LARGE SUV/CROSSOVER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Goes to.......................

Another easy choice, the Land Rover duo have been around for too long to really make an impact on the winner here, and the Mazda is just not there yet, the Audi Q7, is as near as you can get to beating the Volvo, it is a very capable car, but again, not quite there yet to beat the Volvo, not the Grand Cherokee, especially in SRT trim, is a very capable car, and like the Audi, is nearly enough to win, but the interior lets it down, which is why our choice goes to the Volvo XC-90.

Jon Mower

TMW