World Car Awards jurors from across the globe, including CAR deputy editor Mike Fourie, have selected ten finalists for 2014 World Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year respectively. And the nominees are:
Last week, we asked the CAR editors and CARmag.co.za readers to put forward their nominees for the two prestigious titles. We awarded one vote for every contender an editor voted for, but because the total number of vehicles that attracted votes from the CAR team did not satisfy the required shortlist (10 candidates) that the World Car of Year and World Performance Car of the Year adjudication process had required us to submit, we’ve added one vote for each of the top 10 results of our readers’ choice poll.
World Car of the Year 2014
Unsuprisingly, the highly-rated Audi A3/A3 Sportback garnered the most votes, followed by BMW’s avant garde plug-in EV, the i3, and handsome 4 Series compact executive coupe. Ford’s EcoSport, which has added a new flavour to the light SUV/Crossover segment, the progressively-styled Lexus IS, yet-to-be-locally-released BMW 2 Series, eleventh-generation Toyota Corolla, crossover-influenced Subaru Forester and two showstoppers from the recent Johannesburg International Motor Show, the Ford Fusion and Mazda3, make up the rest.
World Performance Car of the Year 2014
The astonishing Ferrari 458 Speciale, which we featured in the January issue, drew the most votes, followed by the Fiesta ST – arguably the most accomplished hot hatch ever to emerge from the light car segment. Our experience of the Porsche 911 GT3 is limited to one test drive, but the track-inspired 991 has a massive reputation. A trio of 2014 Performance Shooutout combatants are next in the shape of the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S, BMW M6 Gran Coupe and Audi RS7 Sportback. The Volkswagen Golf GTI is a known quantity and was popular with editors as well as readers. Mike Fourie’s drive in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S and CAR Editor Steve Smith’s appraisal of the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster account for the former and latter nominations.
The biggest surprise, it must be said, was that the Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG twins would not have made the final line-up if it wasn’t for the public’s vote!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey, we’ve drawn a winner and will be in touch with them via e-mail shortly.
