It's that time of the year again. The World Car of the Year is in its 15th year and the finalists have been announced for 2019.

The World Car of the Year is broken into 6 World Car Awards categories. Judged by a panel of 86 motoring journalists from around the world, the World Car of the Year is arguably the most prestigious when it comes to recognisingexcellence. Our very own Consumer Experience Manager Hannes Oosthuizen is 1 of only2 South African judges on the illustrious panel.

The judges are only allowed to score vehicles they have driven, and award points in sections labelled Value, Safety, Environment, Emotional Appeal, Market Significance etc.Some of these cars are not available in South Africa but feel free to click on selected highlighted vehicles to read more about them.

Top Ten World Car of the Year finalists

Audi e-tron

BMW 3 Series

Ford Focus

Genesis G70

Hyundai Nexo

Jaguar I-PACE

Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Suzuki Jimny

Volvo S60/V60

Volvo XC40(Cars Awards winner)

Top 5World Urban Carfinalists

Audi A1

Hyundai AH2 / Santro

Kia Soul

SEAT Arona

Suzuki Jimny

Top 5World Luxury Carfinalists

Audi A7

Audi Q8

BMW 8 Series

Mercedes-Benz CLS

Volkswagen Touareg

World Performance Cartop 5 finalists

Aston Martin Vantage

BMW M2 Competition

Hyundai Veloster N

McLaren 720S

Mercedes-Benz AMG 4-door Coupe

World Green Car5 finalists

Audi e-tron

Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid

Hyundai Nexo

Jaguar I-Pace

Kia Niro EV

World Car Design of the Year

Citroen C5 Aircross

Jaguar E Pace

Jaguar I PACE

Suzuki Jimny

Volvo XC40

Judging car design requires a specialised skillset and 7 highly-respected design experts have been called upon to share their expertise.Anne Asensio(France – Vice-President, Design – Dassault Systemes), Gernot Bracht(Germany – Pforzheim Design School), Patrick le Quément(France – Designer and President of the Strategy Committee – The Sustainable Design School),Sam Livingstone(U.K. – Car Design Research and Royal College of Art),Tom Matano(USA – School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco),Gordon Murray (U.K. – Gordon Murray Design)andShiro Nakamura(Japan – CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.).

Further Reading

2018/19 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank; Finalists

Winners: 2018/19 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – powered by WesBank

Cars Coming to SA in 2019