At a press conference hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and the New York International Auto Show at the Geneva International Motor Show, the top three finalists for the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year awards were announced today.
The overall winners in all categories will be declared at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 17, 2014.
World Car of the Year
From an initial entry list of twenty-four new vehicles from all over the world, then a short list of finalists, the top three contenders for the overall 2014 World Car of the Year title have been revealed.
They are, in alphabetical order by manufacturer:
- Audi A3
- BMW 4 Series
- Mazda3
To be eligible for the overall World Car award, the candidates must become available for sale on at least two continents during the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending May 31, 2014.
Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of sixty-nine top-level automotive journalists from twenty-two countries around the world. Each juror was appointed by the World Car Awards’ 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. All hold significant stature within their own regions and countries.
World Luxury Car
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 top three finalists are:
- Bentley Flying Spur
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class
- Range Rover Sport
World Performance Car
This year, we were faced with a vast array of legitimate performers from every price bracket imaginable. The top three finalists are:
- Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
- Ferrari 458 Speciale
- Porsche 911 GT3
World Green Car
The World Green Car award is presented by Bridgestone Corporation for the past seven years.
Five experts in “green” technology are appointed annually 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.
The jurors chose these top three finalists for 2014:
- Audi A3 Sportback g-tron (+ Audi e-gas)
- BMW i3
- 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)
World Car Design of the Year
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 jurors chose the following top three finalists:
- BMW i3
- Mazda3
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The design experts for 2014 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)
TMW THOUGHTS
Who on gods earth chose the three cars as WORLD car of the year, The AUDI A3, adds nothing to the range, it is not a revolution, its an evolution of a range that's evolved from each generation, there is nothing in that range to even place it for consideration. The BMW 4 Series, is a 3 series, simple as, nothing to assume it is anything other, the 3 series has just devolved the coupe and convertible from the range and renamed them 4 series, so why should an already OLD car be nominated for this award, it should not. and lastly the the Mazda3, if it had to be one of these three then the Mazda would win hands down, it has been completely renewed with the KODO design language that's made the Mazda6 so successful and this has in turn filtered down to the Hazumi concept, that will spawn the Mazda2.
So, lets think, WHERE is the stunning Jaguar F-Type, The Qashqai, The completely revolutionary (for these modern times) Renault Twingo, or Citroen C-Cactus or DS5L, Peugoet's 308 has been given car of the year elsewhere and been awarded many other gongs, so where is it here ? The Dacia range, or are the judges to snobby to consider a budget brand, yes, I think they are, which is probably why the Fiat 500 MPL was ignored also, What about the latest Lambo, the Huracan is gorgeous, but nowhere to be seen here, yet they pick the Corvette, a car that does not like corners, ha ha, Yes i know things have changed, but the Corvette is another evolution rather than revolting, oops i mean revolution.
These things are always biased, plain and simple, each judge has his or her favourites, whether they be a particular car or brand, we here at TMW love Jaguar Land Rover, and will always shout it from the rooftops, BUT, should we need to we WILL say if we don't like something, and on this occasion we don't like the stupid decisions of the judges and the stupid cars they chose
