2009 World Car Awards Finalists Announced

Emotion is high in the automotive industry as the 2009 World Car Awards winners' press conference, to be held at the New York International Auto Show on April the 9th is now only a month away. The top three contenders for the overall 2009 World Car Awards were announced yesterday by the accounting firm KPMG. The three are Ford Fiesta, Toyota iQ and Volkswagen Golf VI. To qualify for the award, the contestants needed to be in production and sold on at least two continents in 2008.

KPMG also announced the top three finalist for the 2009 World Performance Car award. An American, a Japanese and a German car entered the final, as the top three vehicles are the Corvette ZR1, the Nissan GT-R and the Porsche 911 Carrera.

And since 2008 witnessed the beginning of a new segment in the automotive industry, the New York International Auto Show will also host the final for the 2009 World Green Car award. The top three finalists in this section are the Honda FCX Clarity, the Mitsubishi iMIEV and the Toyota iQ. To be eligible, the vehicles needed to be available on at least one market in 2008.

The vehicle or the green technology could be in production or an experimental prototype with potential near-future application, provided that it was released for individual or press fleet evaluations in quantities of ten or more during last year.

The six year old annual World Car award event will also grant one vehicle the 2009 World Car Design of the Year award. The participants in this beauty contest are the Citroen C5 Sedan/ C5 Tourer, the Fiat 500 and the Jaguar XF.

Fifty-nine automotive journalists from twenty five countries around the world, appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the basis of his/her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence selected the vehicles from an initial list of fifty one models. The winners will be announced in New York, on the ninth of April.