2015 World Car of the Year Finalists Revealed

Prior to the winners being declared on April 2nd at the 2015 New York Auto Show, here are the finalists for this year’s World Car of the Year award as chosen by a seventy-five-person strong jury, comprising of the world’s automotive journalists. 

After beginning in Paris on October 2, 2014 followed by a November test-drive of the North American hopefuls in Los Angeles, the Road to the World Car continues with the finalists’ announcement.

The selection process for the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car and World Performance car categories were conducted through a secret ballot based on the judging panel member’s insight and professional experience with the candidates. The resulting nominations were then tabulated by international accounting firm KPMG.

The following are the finalists, in alphabetical order, for the 2015 World Car of the Year:

• BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
• Citroen 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

The finalists for the 2015 World Luxury Car include:

• BMW i8
• BMW X6
• Cadillac ATS Coupe
• Cadillac Escalade/ESV
• Kia K900
• Lexus NX
• Lexus RC
• Lincoln MKC
• Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB

The top ten 2015 World Performance Car finalists are:

• Audi S1
• Audi S3
• Audi TT / TTS
• Bentley Continental GT Speed
• BMW M4 Coupe/M3 Sedan
• Corvette Z06
• Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat
• Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe
• Lexus RC-F
• Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

To select the finalists for the 2015 World Green Car category, five specialists in “green technology” were appointed by the World Car Awards Steering Committee to thoroughly review all specification and documentation that corresponds with each candidate on the nominations list before narrowing the selection for the review by the 75 jurors in the second round of voting. The finalists include:

• BMW i8
• Hyundai x35/Tucson Fuel Cell
• Kia Soul EV
• Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine
• Volkswagen Golf GTE

The five finalists for the 2015 World Car Design of the Year award are selected from the list of World Car candidates, which include:

• BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
• Citroen C4 Cactus
• Mercedes C-Class
• Porsche Macan
• Volvo XC90

The top three finalists in all categories will be announced on Tuesday, March 3 during the 2015 Geneva International Auto Show.