World Car Finals countdown begins live from Auto Expo 2020

The World Car Finals countdown officially began today at the Auto Expo 2020 in India with the announcement of the Top 10 and Top Five finalists in five World Car Awards categories, as compiled from secret ballots by KPMG.

The launch of the World Car Finals live from the Delhi Auto Show is a first for the World Car Awards. The six World Car jurors from India were on hand to make the announcement, at a press conference on the opening day of the show.

Rajan Wadhera, president of show organiser SIAM (Society of Indian Auto Manufacturers), said: “We are honoured that the World Car Awards has chosen the Delhi Expo for a significant stop in this year's process to choose the world's best automobiles. It is great to see how markets like India play a key role in the whole process. The Delhi Expo is Asia's largest and is a fitting platform to host the World Car Awards as it steps into the World Car Finals, and we are excited to expose our visitors this year to the World Car Awards for the first time through its first-ever pavilion at the show."

The World Car Awards pavilion showcases some significant former winners – the 2010, 2017 and 2018 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) – Volkswagen Polo, Jaguar F-Pace and Volvo XC60 respectively. There’s also the BMW i3 which won World Car Design and World Green Car in 2014 and World Urban Car in 2017. And also, the first ever Top Three in the World finalist from India – the Hyundai Santro – in the 2019 World Urban Car category.

A jury of 86 distinguished international automotive journalists including Autocar India’s Hormazd Sorabjee and Autocar Show's Renuka Kirpalani selected the finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each candidate as part of their professional work.

Top 10 finalists for WCOTY
The 2020 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) winner will be selected from 10 finalists, chosen from an initial list of 29 contenders. The Top Ten World Car of the Year finalists are, in alpha order:
Hyundai Sonata
Kia Soul EV
Kia Telluride
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
Mazda3, Mazda CX-30
Mercedes-Benz CLA
Mercedes-Benz GLB
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen T-Cross.

Top 5 finalists for 2020 World Urban Car 
Kia Soul EV
Mini Electric
Peugeot 208
Renault Clio
Volkswagen T-Cross

Top 5 finalists for 2020 World Luxury Car 
BMW X5
BMW X7
Mercedes-Benz EQC
Porsche 911
Porsche Taycan

Top 5 finalists for 2020 World Performance Car
BMW M8
Porsche 718 Spyder/Cayman GT4
Porsche 911
Porsche Taycan
Toyota GR Supra.

All cars competing in these four categories are eligible for the 2020 World Car Design of the Year award.

A design panel consisting of seven highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors’ final vote. The design experts are in alpha order: Anne Asensio (France - Vice-President, Design - Dassault Systemes), Gernot Bracht (Germany - Pforzheim Design School), Ian Callum (United Kingdom – Director of Design, CALLUM), Patrick le Quément (France - Designer and President of the Strategy Committee - The Sustainable Design School), Tom Matano (USA - Academy of Art University in San Francisco and former Head of Design - Mazda), Gordon Murray (U.K. Chairman, Gordon Murray Group Limited) and Shiro Nakamura (Japan - CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.).

The five finalists chosen by the design panel for the jurors’ final vote are in alpha order: Alpine 110S 
Mazda3 
Mazda CX-30 
Peugeot 208
Porsche Taycan

The Road to the World Car Awards is an annual journey that follows WCOTY’s 86 international jurors as they test drive, and vote on, the eligible vehicles for the 2020 awards season. There are several stops along the road. One of the first took place in Los Angeles in November for the sixth annual ‘L.A. Test Drives’ event exclusively hosted by ZF. The Geneva International Motor Show next month is where the World Car Awards will announce the Top Three in the World finalists as well as the winner of the 2020 World Car Person of the Year award on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 2:45 pm, at the Brembo stand.

The journey’s grande finale will take place when the winners are officially declared in all five vehicle categories at an awards ceremony and press conference to open the New York International Auto Show on April 8, 2020. This year marks the 15th year of the World Car Awards’ partnership with the New York show.