The Road to World Car journey continues with today's announcement of the Top Three in the World finalists in six award categories at the Geneva International Motor Show.
This announcement continues the countdown for the 2017 World Car Awards winners' press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), Bridgestone Corporation, Autoneum and Brembo on Thursday, April 13, 2017. Winners of the 2017 World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car, World Car Design of the Year and the inaugural World Urban Car will all be declared at this time.
The New York International Auto Show is proud to once again co-host the world's number one automotive awards program,' said Show chairman John LaSorsa. 'Each year, we look forward to recognizing and honoring the 'best of the best' in the auto industry. On behalf of the New York Auto Show, we'd like to congratulate all the finalists and wish them all the best as we head into the final announcement,' he added.
2017 marks the fourth consecutive year that the World Car Awards have retained their ranking as the world's number one automotive awards program in terms of media reach.
The Global Trends Report, co-presented annually by Prime Research and Autoneum, will also be announced during the New York show press conference and media breakfast. The report is the culmination of research and insights across the past six months. Autoneum CEO Martin Hirzel said, 'Trends like electric mobility, autonomous driving and connected cars will drive the mobility of the future. To take advantage of these trends and to support OEMs with the best possible range of acoustic and thermal management components for cars, Autoneum has recently established a Competence Center for New Mobility in Sunnyvale, California. At this new Silicon Valley operation, Autoneum will develop innovative products and technologies for a wide range of vehicle concepts and forms, for use by both new and established OEMs.'
A jury of 75 distinguished international automotive journalists from 23 countries selected the following 'Top Three in the World' finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each candidate as part of their professional work. The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors' ballots.
The Top Three in the World finalists in the six award categories are as follows:
2017 World Car of the Year:
◾Audi Q5
◾Jaguar F-PACE
◾Volkswagen Tiguan
2017 World Luxury Car:
◾BMW 5 Series
◾Mercedes-Benz E-Class
◾Volvo S90 / V90
2017 World Performance Car:
◾Audi R8 Spyder
◾McLaren 570s
◾Porsche Boxster Cayman
2017 World Green Car:
◾Chevrolet Bolt
◾Tesla Model X
◾Toyota Prius Prime
2017 World Urban Car
◾BMW i3 (94 Ah)
◾Citroen C3
◾Suzuki Ignis
2017 World Car Design of the Year:
◾Jaguar F-PACE
◾Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet
◾ Toyota C-HR
The Road to the World Car began in Paris on September 29, was followed by a five-day stop in Los Angeles for candidate test-drives in November, and continues with today's Top Three In The World announcement. The journey ends at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 13, 2017 when all winners are declared.
The World Car Awards is more than just an awards program. The World Car community brings together a large cross section of experts and professionals from every segment of the automotive industry. World Car connects the global industry around the very best of today and inspires, with insights, the ideas and trends of tomorrow. Thus defining The Road Ahead platform shared with our presenting partners Prime Research, Bridgestone Corporation, Autoneum and, most recently, Brembo.
2017 marks the 9th year of Bridgestone Corporation's partnership with World Car. Jake Rønsolt, Managing Director, Consumer BU, Bridgestone EMEA commented, 'As the world's largest tyre and rubber manufacturer, it makes perfect sense to partner with WCOTY. It is the 9thyear of our sponsorship and it makes us proud to see so many of the winners running on our tyres. Working together, we can ensure the broad accomplishments of our industry are recognized as widely as possible, which will be essential as we push for innovation in solutions and for digitalization.'
In a rapidly changing automotive world, Brembo is also focused firmly on the future and the vehicles it will bring. Brembo is committing significant resources to perfecting ever more sophisticated virtual simulation methodologies that includes the study of forms, materials, technologies and surface treatments able to meet the needs of the new-generation vehicles, with a particular focus on environmental impact aspects, which drives all of Brembo's development activities.
As the global nature of the industry continues to strengthen, and the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, World Car is proud to be a part of this amazing journey along with the New York International Auto Show, Prime Research, Autoneum, Brembo, Bridgestone Corporation, KPMG and Newspress – our official media partner.