NEW DELHI: The World Car Finals countdown officially began today at the Delhi Auto Show with the announcement of the Top 10 and Top Five finalists in five World Car Awards categories, as compiled from secret ballots by KPMG.
The launch of the World Car Finals live from the Delhi Auto Show is a first for the World Car Awards.
The six World Car jurors from India were on hand to make the announcement at a press conference on the opening day of the show.
The World Car Awards pavilion showcases some significant former winners – the 2010, 2017 and 2018 World Car of the Year (WCOTY)– Volkswagen Polo, Jaguar F-Pace and Volvo XC60 respectively.
There’s also the BMW i3 which won World Car Design and World Green Car in 2014 and World Urban Car in 2017.
And also, the first ever Top Three in the World finalist from India – the Hyundai Santro - in the 2019 World Urban Car category.
Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Juror and Director of the World Car Awards Program said, “We are excited to showcase the World Car Awards at India’s biggest auto show. The Indian car market is already the fourth largest in the world, and projected to become third largest by 2022."
A jury of 86 distinguished international automotive journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each candidate as part of their professional work.
The 2020 World Car of the Year winner will be selected from 10 finalists, chosen from an initial list of 29 contenders.
The Top Ten World Car of the Year finalists are, in alphabetical order : Hyundai Sonata, Kia Soul EV, Kia Telluride, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Mazda3, Mazda CX-30, Mercedes-Benz CLA, Mercedes-Benz GLB, Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen T-Cross.
The 2020 World Urban Car will be chosen from these top five finalists: Kia Soul EV, Mini Electric, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio and Volkswagen T-Cross.
The 2020 World Luxury Car top five finalists are: BMW X5, BMW X7, Mercedes-Benz EQC, Porsche 911 and Porsche Taycan.
The 2020 World Performance Car top five finalists are BMW M8, Porsche 718 Spyder/Cayman GT4, Porsche 911, Porsche Taycan and Toyota GR Supra.
All cars competing in these four categories are eligible for the 2020 World Car Design of the Year award.
A design panel consisting of seven world design experts was asked to review each candidate and shortlist recommendations for the jurors’ final vote.
The design experts are: Anne Asensio (France - Vice-President, Design - Dassault Systemes), Gernot Bracht (Germany - Pforzheim Design School), Ian Callum (United Kingdom – Director of Design, CALLUM), Patrick le Quément (France - Designer and President of the Strategy Committee - The Sustainable Design School), Tom Matano (USA - Academy of Art University in San Francisco and former Head of Design - Mazda), Gordon Murray (U.K. Chairman, Gordon Murray Group Limited) and Shiro Nakamura (Japan - CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.).
The five finalists chosen by the design panel for the jurors’ final vote are Alpine 110S, Mazda3, Mazda CX-30, Peugeot 208 and Porsche Taycan.
