2019 World Car Finals countdown begins!

The 2019 World Car Finals countdown excitement has begun with KPMG’s announcement of the finalists in six World Car Awards categories.

A jury of 86 distinguished international automotive journalists – including CyberStoep’s Charleen Clarke – selected the following finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation with each candidate as part of their professional work.

The 2019 World Car of the Year winner will be selected from the following 10 finalists that were chosen from an initial list of 40 contenders.  The Top Ten World Car of the Year finalists are, in alpha 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

The 2019 World Urban Car will be chosen from one of these top five finalists:

Audi A1
Hyundai AH2 / Santro
Kia Soul
SEAT Arona
Suzuki Jimny

The 2019 World Luxury Car top five finalists are as follows:

Audi A7
Audi Q8
BMW 8 Series
Mercedes-Benz CLS
Volkswagen Touareg

The 2019 World Performance Car top five finalists are:

Aston Martin Vantage
BMW M2 Competition
Hyundai Veloster N
McLaren 720S
Mercedes-Benz AMG 4-door Coupe

There are five finalists in the 2019 World Green Car category.  They are:

Audi e-tron
Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid
Hyundai Nexo
Jaguar I-Pace
Kia Niro EV

Again this year, the cars eligible for the 2019 World Car Design of the Year award could be any of the contenders competing in the six award categories.

A design panel consisting of seven highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors.  The design experts are in alpha order:  Anne Asensio (France – Vice-President, Design – Dassault Systemes), Gernot Bracht (Germany – Pforzheim Design School),  Patrick le Quément (France – Designer and President of the Strategy Committee – The Sustainable Design School), Sam Livingstone (U.K.  – Car Design Research and Royal College of Art), Tom Matano (USA – School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco), Gordon Murray (U.K. – Gordon Murray Design) and  Shiro Nakamura (Japan – CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.).

The five finalists chosen by the design panel for the jurors’ final vote are:

Citroen C5 Aircross
Jaguar E Pace
Jaguar I PACE
Suzuki Jimny
Volvo XC40

The Road to World Car is an annual journey in partnership with the New York International Show. The journey follows more than 80 of our international journalists as they test-drive, and vote on, the 2019 eligible vehicles. The official launch took place in Paris on September 19^th and will end when the winners are officially declared in all six categories at an awards ceremony that officially opens the New York show on April 17, 2019.

World Car makes several stops along the way: our fifth annual L.A. Test Drives event concluded the last week of November. The event was an outstanding success with 48 jurors attending from 18 different countries across the six day event. The journalists test-drove, and voted on, 38 car contenders that may not be available in their home markets.  ZF was the event’s exclusive host.

The World Car Finals countdown excitement will continue on Tuesday, March 5^th during a stop at the Geneva Motor Show where the Top Three In The World finalists will be announced along with the 2019 World Car Person of the Year.

The journey ends with the grande finale awards ceremony that opens the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday, April 17^th, 2019.  The Global Trends Report, produced annually by Prime Research and Autoneum, will also be presented during the press conference and media breakfast that officially opens the show. The report is the culmination of research and insights across the past six months.

Of course, The Road To World Car doesn’t really stop.  Just a few weeks after the New York show’s grande finale, the World Car Garage will be staged for the fourth year at the London Motor Show in May of 2019; offering a glimpse of the 2020 contenders as well as celebrating the 2019 winners.

The World Car Awards is the number one awards program of its type globally for the sixth consecutive year as reported in Prime Research’s independent media report released in May 2018.

Check out our video:  https://youtu.be/tw-YvxZ1FhU