(March 5, 2014) GENEVA — At a press conference hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and the New York International Auto Show at the Geneva International Motor Show, the top three finalists for the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year awards were announced Tuesday, March 4.

The overall winners in all categories will be declared at the New York International Auto Show on April 17.

Finalists for World Car of the Year are the Audi A3, BMW 4-Series and Mazda3. They were picked from an initial entry list of 24 new vehicles from all over the world, then a short list of finalists

To be eligible for the overall World Car award, the candidates must become available for sale on at least two continents during the period beginning Jan. 1, 2013 and ending May 31, 2014.

Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of 69 top-level automotive journalists from 22 countries around the world.  Each juror was appointed by the World Car Awards’ Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence.  Each juror typically drives and evaluates new vehicles on a regular basis as part of their professional work. All hold significant stature within their own regions and countries.

World Luxury Car

This is the first year for the World Luxury Car award.   This new category is created to acknowledge higher-priced premium models selling in more limited numbers worldwide. The top three finalists are:

    Bentley Flying Spur
    Mercedes-Benz S-Class
    Range Rover Sport

World Performance Car

This year, we were faced with a vast array of legitimate performers from every price bracket imaginable.  The top three finalists are:

    Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
    Ferrari 458 Speciale
    Porsche 911 GT3

World Green Car

The World Green Car award is presented by Bridgestone Corporation for the past seven years.

Five experts in “green” technology are appointed annually 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 sixty-nine jurors in their second round of voting.

The jurors chose these top three finalists for 2014:

    Audi A3 Sportback g-tron (+ Audi e-gas)   
    BMW i3
    Volkswagen XL1

The five experts on the advisory panel are in alphabetical order:  Phil Berg (USA - PopularMechanics.com);  Richard Bremner (U.K. Autocar magazine), Claus-Peter Koeth (Germany - automobil-industrie.de);  Yumi Kawabata (Japan-environmental journalist) and John Voelcker (USA - GreenCarReports.com)

World Car Design of the Year

Again, a design panel consisting of five highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors.  The jurors chose the following top three finalists:

    BMW i3
    Mazda3
    Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The design experts for 2014 are Masatsugu Arimoto (Japan – freelance design journalist); Silvia Baruffaldi (Italy – Auto & Design magazine); Gernot Bracht (Germany – Pforzheim Design School); Sam Livingstone (U.K.  - Car Design Research and Royal College of Art) and Tom Matano (USA - School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco)