World Car Awards 2017: Finalists Announced

The most prestigious and biggest awards programme in the automobile world - the World Car Awards has announced its finalists for the 2017 awards. The awards see global manufacturers vying for top honours with products that are on sale on at least 2 continents and launched within a given year. The awards jury comprises 73 international automotive journalists - with 6 from India as well. And after the first round of voting in January here are the finalists.

For the top award of World Car Of The Year 2017 the finalists (in alphabetical order) are Audi A5 / S5 Coupe, Audi Q2, Audi Q5, Fiat/Abarth 124 Spyder, Honda Civic, Jaguar F-PACE, Mazda CX-9, Skoda Kodiaq, Toyota C-HR, and Volkswagen Tiguan. The big surprise is the fact that we have 3 Audis - or multiple finalists from one manufacturer, as that is rather unprecedented. Another surprise is not seeing cars like the Chevrolet Cruze, Hyundai Elantra or Kia Cadenza in the Top Ten. And yes there is a clear acknowledgment of how significant and important SUVs have become for the car business, with SUVs accounting for 6 of the 10 finalists.

(2017 World Green Car of the year finalists)

In all other categories, World Car announce a Top Five list of finalists. There are fewer surprises in the World Green Car 2017 category. The finalists for the environmental prowess (in alphabetical order) are: Chevrolet Bolt, Honda Clarity Fuel-Cell, Hyundai Ioniq, Tesla Model X, and the Toyota Prius Prime. The new generation Prius and Bolt are absolute favourites here it would seem, though the second round of voting could throw up a surprise!

(2017 World Luxury Car of the year finalists)

The finalists for the World Luxury Car 2017 are the Bentley Bentayga, BMW 5 Series, Genesis G90, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Volvo S90 / V90. The Genesis range has been the one that's really impressed many jurors this year, with the level of equipment and material quality matching the best in the business. The formidable flagship sedans from both BMW and Mercedes-Benz are no doubt the strong contenders though.

(2017 World Performance Car of the year finalists)

In the World Performance Car category the finalists are Aston Martin DB11, Audi R8 Spyder, Honda / Acura NSX, McLaren 570s, and the Porsche Boxster / Cayman. And in the brand new category created this year, the Top Five for the World Urban Car are the (94 Ah) BMW i3, the posh little Citroen C3, Ford KA+ (what we know as the new Figo in India), Smart Cabriolet, and the car Maruti recently introduced in India too - the Suzuki Ignis.

(2017 World Urban Car of the year finalists)

The finalists for World Car Design 2017 have been chosen by a special panel appointed by the World Car Awards steering committee. They are Audi A5 / S5 Coupe, Jaguar F-Pace, Mazda CX-9, Mercedes S-Class Cabriolet, and the Toyota CH-R. The design experts on the panel are Masatsugu Arimoto (Japan - Freelance design journalist), Anne Asensio (Vice-President, Design - Dassault Systemes), Gernot Bracht (Germany - Pforzheim Design School), Patrick le Quement (Designer and President of the Strategy Committee - The Sustainable 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).

(2017 World Car Design of the year finalists)

The Road to World Car began as the last year was coming to a close, with a stop in Los Angeles for the WCOTY test-fest in November. All 73 jurors from around the world will now vote on the finalists in the second round of voting, and the Top Three in each category will be announced at the Geneva International Motor Show in March. The winners' announcement will as always be at the high-profile awards ceremony at the New York International Auto Show on April 13, 2017.