World Car of the Year finalists announced
The votes have been tallied and short list is down to three finalists - which will win the top car gong: Nissan LEAF, Audi A8 or BMW 5 Series?Finalists for the World Car of the Year awards have been announced today, with a pair of heavy hitting German luxury cars and ultra-green Japanese electric car making the headline award's shortlist.
The 2010 World Car of the Year was won by the Volkswagen Polo, but this year the final line-up consists of the Nissan LEAF, Audi A8 and BMW 5 Series. The trio of finalists were whittled down from an entry list of 39 new vehicles.
The winner will be decided by a jury of 66 motoring journalists from around the globe, including three Australians; two of whom contribute to the Carsales Network -- Joshua Dowling and Italy-based Michael Taylor. The third Australian panellist is News Limited's Paul Gover.
The World Car of the Year judges are chosen by the so-called World Car Steering Committee, comprised of pre-eminent automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America.
Other categories for the 2011 World Car of the Year awards include the World Performance Car, World Car Design of the Year, and World Green Car.
The three finalists for the 2011 World Performance Car award are the Porsche 911 Turbo, Ferrari 458 Italia and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, while the 2011 World Car Design of the Year finalists are the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Aston Martin Rapide, and Ferrari 458 Italia.
Green car watchers will be interested to know that no hybrids made the final three, with the 2011 World Green Car finalists the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan LEAF and BMW 320d EfficientDynamics Edition.
The winners of the WCOTY awards will be announced on April 21 at the New York Auto Show.
Check out the WCOTY.com website for more details on the categories and shortlisted vehicles, and we're interested to know what you guys would vote as the world's best car of year -- just post your thoughts in the comments section below.
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