Finalists announced for 2006 World Car of the Year
May I have the envelope, please? Not quite yet.
However... the finalists are:
- BMW 3-Series
- Honda Civic/Civic Hybrid
- Land Rover Range Rover Sport
- Lexus IS
- Mazda MX-5
- Mercedes-Benz M-Class
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class
- Porsche Cayman S
- Suzuki Swift
- Volkswagen Passat
The finalists were selected by a jury of 46 international automotive journalists in a secret ballot. To pick the winner, the jury will rate each finalist in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal, and significance. The winner will be announced at the New York International Auto Show in April. (Last year's winner was the Audi A6.)
Three specialty awards will also be handed out by the WCOTY program: World Performance Car, World Green Car, and World Car Design of the Year. (Finalists in these categories are selected separately from the WCOTY finalists.) Check out the WCOTY website for details.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
amaximeya 4:22PM (2/24/2006)
my vote goes to the new swift. quite a car according to the reviews!
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Corey 4:29PM (2/24/2006)
keeping my fingers crossed that it's the mx-5
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Ferguson McSqueege 4:33PM (2/24/2006)
Watch the Civic win ANOTHER award...for no reason other than it's called the "Civic."
I'd rather see either the Cayman S take the trophy. Either that or the MX-5. Both are more deserving than the uselessly oogly Civic.
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Eric L. 4:47PM (2/24/2006)
I can't wait until the Rednecks complain there aren't any "American" vehicles on the list.
I hope the MX-5 wins. Mazda did a great job at keeping the car light by clever engineering while improving the vehicle in almost every way.
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Jaimie B 4:57PM (2/24/2006)
Yup, I'm pretty sure these losers would never post their pointless opinions on this blog. They prefer to turn a deaf ear on the barrage of "domestics suck" blogs that is so prevalent in ANY news these days.
Insteads they'd rather write flame posts on news regarding successful companies such as Toyota, and Honda. Done out of jealousy no doubt.
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Sid 5:01PM (2/24/2006)
The MX-5 has to get it. The amount of effort Mazda has put into a car which can be had LOADED for $35,000 CAD is amazing.
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dodz 5:11PM (2/24/2006)
what the hell happened to the Audi A4?
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FM 5:14PM (2/24/2006)
Lithous-some of us don't give sh*t about you nor your attempts to be funny. Keep crying tears for the rednecks who aren't in this list.
On topic...it will be close between the Mx-5 and the Civic. If the Porsche wins I will drop my jaw.
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Monkey Genius 5:37PM (2/24/2006)
The truth is here:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/?mid=4086424
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Source1 5:49PM (2/24/2006)
Are they kidding? I haven't read one single publication which gives the Passat a decent review. And don't get me going on the Civic! I would say these are the German Car Awards with some Japanese cars chucked in for the appearance of legitimacy.
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Fooman 6:16PM (2/24/2006)
hmm...
zo6...
M class infiniti
CLS Mercedes
Lotus Exige
Audi a8/s8
All of these are class and niche creators or killers...
the list is confusing...
the M class is not new, the new 3 is not as good of a car for the price as it used to be...
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Ferguson McSqueege 6:17PM (2/24/2006)
Wow, the maturity level of Autoblog is steadily declining.
Soon all the comments will read, "Oh yeah, well my dad can beat up your dad."
Grow up you guys. You should have left the name calling and trashtalking back in middle school.
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FM 6:30PM (2/24/2006)
"Sure you do, or you wouldn't have mentioned me. Have a nice day dick with ears."
Im gonna have to quote "dick". Go shoot yourself.
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Eric L. 6:39PM (2/24/2006)
I find it amusing that Lithous thinks that the richest people are also the most intelligent (actually I think he said they were the "best"). Now *that* is a backwards idea! The smartest people I know use their brains to better society (i.e. college professors and engineers) rather than make themselves rich and famous.
No hard feelings, but grow up man.
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Jim 6:40PM (2/24/2006)
Where's the Ridgeline? Shouldn't it be on this list?
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overtorqued 7:38PM (2/24/2006)
I think the Ridgeline is a truck, not a car. Of course, so is the Land Rover, so maybe I'm wrong.
There are plenty of smart rich people (Bill Gates), smart poor people (college profs), dumb rich people (50 cent), and dumb poor people (me).
Bill Gates drives a Corvette:
http://www.anvari.org/fun/Computer/Bill_Gates_Car.html
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sg 8:13PM (2/24/2006)
Honda Civic is going to come away with at least one award, no doubt.
Mazda MX-5..... dream on!
LOL
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Carl Choe 9:03PM (2/24/2006)
The suzuki swift can very well win it all. This car has it all i heard and is like one of the best sellers in europe and japan. I was personally amazed to see how well built it looks via reviews, suzuki always had engine technology and are considered better in japan than honda, plus its the best looking small rite now hands down, lastly combine that with the price...
Bring this car to north america with a north america engine and it could sell well
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charlie 9:13PM (2/24/2006)
Considering that the A6 won last year... I think its safe to assume that the:
Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Lexus IS
Mazda MX-5
Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Suzuki Swift
Volkswagen Passat
cannot win. making it between the:
# BMW 3-Series
# Honda Civic/Civic Hybrid
# Mercedes-Benz S-Class
# Porsche Cayman S
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Ed 12:13AM (2/25/2006)
My first reaction was "Well, of course there are no GM/Ford products on that list. Crap like the Cobalt isn't going to win you any awards."
But come to think of it, the Fusion and Cadillac DTS should probably be among the finalists. The Fusion is the first decent sedan built by GM/Ford since the heyday of the Taurus, and the DTS really sets the bar for its category (which, admittedly, is "boat-sized cars for old people"). I ended up driving one for a couple weeks recently - long story - and it's actually pretty impressive. Far, far more of a car than the last DeVille I rode in (a mid-90s version), which was sort of like piloting the Goodyear blimp while on a bad ether trip.
Neither of them would "win" this little contest, but in fairness they are contenders. Certainly as deserving as the Passat, which is badly overpriced and a big disappointment.
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