Top cars in the world
The World Car of the Year finalists have been revealed, kicking off the countdown to the announcement of the winner in April, writes Damien O’Carroll.
The 10 finalists for the World Car of the Year have officially been announced. And it actually contains a few surprises.
The finalists are selected by a jury of 86 international automotive journalists by secret ballot based on their own evaluation of the eligible vehicles.
The 10 World Car of the Year finalists are, in alphabetical order:
❚ Audi e-tron
❚ BMW 3 Series
❚ Ford Focus
❚ Genesis G70
❚ Hyundai Nexo
❚ Jaguar I Pace
❚ Mercedes-Benz A-class
❚ Suzuki Jimny
❚ Volvo S60/V60
❚ Volvo XC40
Most of the surprises come in the form of vehicles that missed top 10 selection, including the Subaru Forester, Toyota Corolla and Audi A1, but perhaps the biggest surprise is the inclusion of the Suzuki Jimny.
While we here at Stuff Motoring are unabashed fans of the current Jimny, and I even picked the new one as one of the cars I am most looking forward to driving this year, surely the fact that the Jimny scored only a fairly dismal thee stars in EuroNCAP testing makes it a strange choice as a finalist in the global award.
Surely one would think that the ‘‘best’’ should also be as safe as possible by current standards, shouldn’t it?
As well as the 10 finalists, the top five cars in each of the WCOTY categories were also released.
World Urban Car finalists:
❚ Audi A1
❚ Hyundai Santro
❚ Kia Soul
❚ Seat Arona
❚ Suzuki Jimny
World Luxury Car finalists:
❚ Audi A7
❚ Audi Q8
❚ BMW 8 Series
❚ Mercedes-Benz CLS
❚ Volkswagen Touareg
World Performance Car finalists:
❚ Aston Martin Vantage
❚ BMW M2 Competition
❚ Hyundai Veloster N
❚ McLaren 720S
❚ Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door coupe
World Green Car finalists:
❚ Audi e-tron
❚ Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid
❚ Hyundai Nexo
❚ Jaguar I-Pace
❚ Kia Niro EV
World Car Design of the Year finalists:
❚ Citroen C5 Aircross
❚ Jaguar E Pace
❚ Jaguar I Pace
❚ Suzuki Jimny
❚ Volvo XC40
The top three World Car of the Year finalists will be announced in March at the Geneva Motor Show, along with the 2019 World Car Person of the Year.
Meanwhile, the winner will be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday, April 17.