World Car of the Year 2015: The Finalists

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
The Auto Channel

The Hague February 10, 2015; The World Car of the Year is well on its way to the prize-giving ceremony at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 2, 2015.

After announcing the nominated models in October and organizing mini tests in Los Angeles in November, the organizers have now revealed the shortlists for all five categories, including for the World Car of the Year title.

The next stop on the Road to the World Car will be on March 2, when the WCA World Car Awards will announce the final three models per category during a press conference at the Geneva Auto Show.

The World Green Car and World Design car of the Year categories are handled differently. Five experts in “green” technology were appointed by the World Car Awards Steering Committee to extensively review all documentation and specs associated with each candidate on the list of nominees. The experts then create a short-list of finalists for review by the 75 jurors in their second round of voting this month.

Cars eligible for the 2015 World Car Design of the Year award are taken from the list of World Car candidates or may be included as a stand-alone entry provided the vehicle is available in quantities of at least 10 in one major market during the period beginning January 1, 2014 and ending May 31, 2015. Candidates may be pre-production or all-new production.

As a member of the jury of the 75 international automotive journalists, I have tested most of the nominated models for the overall title and quite some for the other categories. In January we have provided our ballots for the ten best in two segments and for the successor to the Audi A3, that won last year’s Grand Prize. The two categories are the World Luxury Car of the Year and the World Performance Car of the Year. Our secret ballots have been collected by and will again be sent to accountancy firm KPMG.

The finalists in alphabetical order:

 2015 World Car of the Year Finalists

*BMW 2 Series Active Tourer                  
*Citroën C4 Cactus
*Ford Mustang 
*Hyundai Genesis 
*Jeep Renegade 
*Mazda2 
*Mercedes-Benz C-Class 
*MINI 5 door / MINI 4 door Hard Top 
*Nissan Qashqai
*Volkswagen Passat  

2015 World Luxury Car Finalists

*BMW i8 
*BMW X6 
*Cadillac ATS Coupe 
*Cadillac Escalade/ESV 
*Kia K900 
*Lexus NX 
*Lexus RC
*Lincoln MKC
*Mercedes-Benz S Coupe
*Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB

2015 World Performance Car Finalists

*Audi S1
*Audi S3
*Audi TT / TTS 
*Bentley Continental GT Speed 
*BMWM4 Coupe/M3 Sedan
*Corvette Z06
*Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
*Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe
*Lexus RC_F
*Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

2015 World Green Car Finalists

*BMW i8
*Hyundai x35/Tucson Fuel Cell
*Kia Soul EV
*Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine
*Volkswagen Golf GTE
 
2015 World Car Design of the Year Finalists

*BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
*Citroën C4 Cactus 
*Mercedes C-Class
*Porsche Macan
*Volvo XC90