The WCOTY awards are kind of like the Miss Universe Pageant. Sure, the universe is bigger than America, but we Yanks just love rooting for our local gals in the Miss America Pageant (Congrats, Miss Oklahoma!). In the same way, we're all a twitter to hear which models have won the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, but the World Car of the Year awards presented at the New York International Auto Show in April often don't get the same attention (unless you count this). Well, let's change that by actually giving a hoot this year. The top ten finalists for the World Car and World Performance Car of the Year awards were announced today, and you can find both lists in full after the jump.
Audi managed to nab the most spots with the Q7 and TT being finalists for the WCOTY award and the RS4 and S6 on the list for the WPCOTY award. German automakers also dominated the list of finalists for the performance car award, with 6 out of 10 coming from either Audi, BMW or Porsche.
You may be wondering why very few domestics (U.S. domestics, that is) seem to be on either of these lists, and that's because to be eligible for either award a car has to be in production and sold in at least five countries on two continents. A panel of 45 jurors will pick the winners, which will be announced in April at the New York Auto Show.
Check out the full lists after the jump along with the WCOTY award press release.
[Source: WCOTY.com]
World Car of the Year Announces Top 10 Finalists
New York, NY – (January 30, 2007): From an initial entry list of twenty-eight (28) new vehicles from all over the world, a short list of ten finalists for the third annual World Car of the Year (WCOTY) awards were announced by the international accounting firm KPMG. The winners of the 2007 WCOTY will be unveiled during Press Preview at the upcoming New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) on Thursday, April 5, 2007.
Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of 45 top-level automotive journalists from around the world. To be eligible, the car must be in production, and sold in at least five countries on two continents.
World Car - Top Ten Finalists:
The following Top Ten World Car finalists are listed below in alphabetical order:
- Audi Q7 Audi TT
- Citroen C4 Picasso
- Citroen C6
- Fiat Grande Punto
- Jaguar XK
- Lexus LS 460
- Mercedes CL
- MINI
- Suzuki SX4 / Fiat Sedici
World Performance Car - Top Ten Finalists
In addition, the following Top Ten World Performance Car finalists are:
- Audi RS4
- Audi S6
- BMW 335i
- BMW M / Z4 M Coupe/Roadster
- Ferrari 599 GTB
- Jaguar XKR
- Mazda 3 MPS / Mazdaspeed3
- Porsche 911 GT3
- Porsche 911 Turbo
- Renault Clio Renault Sport
The jurors' next steps are to re-evaluate the "Top Ten" cars in the above categories in preparation for a final round of voting on March 1st. Jury members will specifically rate each vehicle in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal, and significance. KPMG will tabulate the vote results and the top three finalists will be announced no later than Thursday, March 8th, 2007.
There are no Top Ten finalists for World Green Car or for World Design of the Year. Instead, jurors will vote in those categories on March 1st. The Top Three finalists in all awards categories will then be announced on Thursday, March 8th.
The 2007 World Car of the Year, as well as the winners of the World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year titles will all be declared on Thursday, April 5, 2007 during a press conference to be held at the New York International Auto Show.
"Announcing the annual World Car of the Year awards at the New York show is a fitting finale to the auto show season that begins each fall with either the Paris or Frankfurt motor shows," said Gerry Malloy, co-chair, WCOTY. "Next, it's on to Tokyo in alternating years. The Detroit show takes centre stage in January while Geneva claims the spotlight in March. Finally, in April, the season reaches its exciting climax at the New York International Auto Show."
About World Car of the Year
The World Car of the Year Awards program is initiated by, organized by, and conducted by, automotive journalists from around the globe. A non-profit association guided by a steering committee of journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America administers the awards program. WCOTY is intended to complement, not compete with, existing COTY awards by raising consumer awareness of regional Car of the Year award programs as well as the World Car of the Year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Accordsforall @ Jan 31st 2007 12:54PM
Hmmm
I dont understand how a performace award includes the LS 460 and a M-B CL. There also isnt any Toyota or Honda mentions, Lexus is.. Toyota isnt.
But not a single Korean maker.. and no domestics. I bet this performance award has more credibility than the regular COTY..
ruggels @ Jan 31st 2007 1:09PM
I concur, I can easily think of many american cars which are far superior to the RS4, Q7, TT, Z4M, 599 GTB... erm.. wait... as far as complete packages go (interior, exterior, performance, et-al) I can't. I'd wager that's why you don't see any budget korean cars or "we've only lost $10,000,000,000+" American cars. Ford's doing a great job of focusing and attempting to get back into the game, but let's face it, the big 2.5 are behind the ball, especially when discussing cars like these. Also this is a WORLD car of the year, ever read any non-american press? Like say German, French, Japanese or British? They're not too fond of the propensity of American cars which would compete directly with the cars mentioned (sans the Ford Focus ST). Also, do you honestly think we’d find something from toyota ranked with the RS4? 911 GT3? Mini? Suzuki SX4 maybe, but aside from that, nothing really stands out as glaringly unique in the Toyota/Honda line-up.
British_Rover @ Jan 31st 2007 1:35PM
"I dont understand how a performace award includes the LS 460 and a M-B CL. There also isnt any Toyota or Honda mentions, Lexus is.. Toyota isnt."
Err The LS460 and MB CL are not on the performance list they are on the regular list.
The reason you don't see any american cars on the list is because very few american cars are sold outside of the US, Canada and Mexico. You have to read the article more closely...
"You may be wondering why very few domestics (U.S. domestics, that is) seem to be on either of these lists, and that's because to be eligible for either award a car has to be in production and sold in at least five countries on two continents."
There are not many cars from the US automakers that meet that requirement so it is much more difficult for them to get on the list.
Adam @ Jan 31st 2007 2:51PM
Three cheers for reading the Whole article!!
Alan44 @ Jan 31st 2007 4:25PM
As the owner of a 2006 Mazda 3 with the 2.3 engine, I can't imagine why the the Mazda 3 Speed is on the performance list. The FWD of my car does a poor job of handling the standard 2.3 engine, severe front wheel drive wheel hop if you get on it in first gear. The more powerful engine of the Speed3 has to be a disaster.
Joe @ Jan 31st 2007 5:06PM
"The more powerful engine of the Speed3 has to be a disaster."
No...It is simply beautiful. Test drive one if you dare. You'll be going home in it...I did.
ruggels @ Jan 31st 2007 7:23PM
"No...It is simply beautiful. Test drive one if you dare. You'll be going home in it...I did."
I did... then i test drove the GTI :). I'm guessing beautiful is subjective because i've found no interrior close to the GTI's for the money :P.
bernie @ Jan 31st 2007 9:35PM
I sure hope they don't embarass themselves the way North American Car of the Year panel did by voting the blatantly average Saturn Aura over the Altima and Camry. Consumer Reports in March gets it right.
Here's hoping this award isn't a bought and paid for GM lovefest. It diminishes every award when that happens.
Brad @ Jan 31st 2007 10:52PM
Err... try looking again. The Lexus didn't make the performance awards, only the overall awards.
Howard @ Feb 2nd 2007 5:44PM
Does anyone know which car won in those categories last year? and which vehicles were in the finalist last year?
pr4N4y @ Mar 19th 2007 5:16PM
@Howard,
It was the new BMW 3-series. For full listing, go to:
https://commerce.smartusa.com/Registration/register.aspx
pr4N4y @ Mar 19th 2007 5:17PM
Sorry for #12, I pasted the wrong link (from clipboard). Here is the correct link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Green_Car#World_Performance_Car_2
3rdgear=heaven @ Mar 11th 2008 1:25PM
Well Alan44, I believe you've answered your own question regarding the Speed3 - you've not driven it. I've got 300 mi on mine and it handles beautifully. There are quite a few differences between the regular 3 and the Speed, including torque control and DSC.
3rdgear=heaven @ Mar 11th 2008 1:27PM
The only thing you'll hear in my Speed3 is shhhhhh, boom. Then I'm gone.
Seriously, though, I'd love to see a speed6 sportwagon.