2018 World Car Awards top three finalists

It’d be intriguing to question members of the World Car Awards jury about their voting rationale, because some of 2018’s top three finalists seem nonsensical.

2018 World Car of the Year

When the shortlist was revealed in January, the Nissan Leaf and Kia Stinger stood out as being innovative cars that had the potential to shake up their respective sectors. However, both have been eliminated, leaving a trio of crossovers.
  • Land Rover Range Rover Velar
  • Mazda CX-5
  • Volvo XC60
Volvo XC60 (2018) Side
Volvo XC60

2018 World Luxury Car

This category is now a guaranteed win for the Volkswagen Group, after the BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo and Lexus LS failed to attract sufficient support.
  • Audi A8
  • Porsche Cayenne
  • Porsche Panamera
Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo (2018) Front Side
Porsche Panamera

2018 World Performance Car

While the Giulia Quadrifoglio might represent a resurgence for Alfa Romeo, the Italian saloon was clearly not considered good enough by the judging panel. What’s left is a ‘David versus two Goliaths’ contest: can a £30,995 Honda defeat a £89,640 BMW and a £76,595 Lexus?
  • BMW M5
  • Honda Civic Type R
  • Lexus LC 500
BMW M5 Saloon (2018) Front Side 1
BMW M5

2018 World Urban Car

An increased ride height for better driver visibility, longer-travel suspension to cope with decaying road surfaces and extra body cladding to protect against scrapes are three attributes needed by an ideal urban car. On that basis, the Fiesta becomes the obvious front-runner here (but only in Active guise).
  • Ford Fiesta
  • Suzuki Swift
  • Volkswagen Polo
Ford Fiesta Active 5-Door (2017) Front Side
Ford Fiesta

2018 World Green Car

If the pure-electric Nissan Leaf doesn’t beat the BMW and Chrysler hybrids, then there is something very wrong with how the best ‘green’ vehicle is determined.
  • BMW 530e iPerformance
  • Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
  • Nissan Leaf
Nissan Leaf (2018) Front Side
Nissan Leaf

2018 World Car Design of the Year

Given such a subjective topic and the strange ballot results seen thus far, trying to predict which contender is deemed most attractive would be fairly pointless.
  • Land Rover Range Rover Velar
  • Lexus LC 500
  • Volvo XC60
Land Rover Range Rover Velar (2018) Front Side
Land Rover Range Rover Velar

All six winners are going to be announced at the New York International Auto Show on the 28th of March.

Related posts:
2018 World Car Awards finalists
2018 NACTOY winners

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