THE ROAD TO WORLD CAR &

THE ROAD AHEADO C T O B E R 2 0 1 7

Introduction

Peter Lyon - Chairman, World Car Awards

The Road to World Car’s 2018 program started in earnest

inside the Jaguar Land Rover stand at the Frankfurt Motor

Show in September.

JLR’s CEO Dr Ralf Speth, New York Auto Show’s president

Mark Scheinberg and British TV personality Ginny Buckley

joined me on stage to celebrate the Jaguar F-Pace’s World

Car of the Year victory after which we initiated the jury

evaluation process for the coming year and announced our

list of eligible vehicles for 2018.

This important ceremony was another outstanding success

as over 120 media and OEM representatives joined World

Car jurors and JLR staff for a champagne reception to kick

off a new year of testing and judging. After a reshuffle of

jurors, World Car enters its new voting season with 83 jurors

from 24 countries and welcomes back presenting partners

in Bridgestone and Autoneum. We will also continue our

ongoing relationships with the New York International Auto

Show, PRIME Research, KPMG and Newspress - our official

media partner.

Representatives from Jaguar Land Rover and World Car Awards at the IAA in Frankfurt

A milestone was reached in April this year when World

Car was invited by NYIAS to open the auto show on the

first press day with its prize-giving ceremony in front of

over 600 media and automotive industry representatives

including seven CEOs. We expect to open the show again

in 2018.

Always aiming to evolve and grow, World Car took

advantage of juror visits to the Tokyo Motor Show in late

October to introduce its first-ever Tokyo test drive session

for jurors based at the state-of-the-art BMW Group Tokyo

Bay, a unique complex with its very own proving ground.

Some ten jurors evaluated eight eligible vehicles from

Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and BMW.

The purpose of the Tokyo test-drives is to offer test drives

of vehicles that are not readily available in certain juror’s

countries.

In November, World Car will for the fourth time stage its

annual “L.A. TestDrives” based at the Westin Pasadena

Hotel. We expect at least 25 jurors from over a dozen

countries to test drive over 20 eligible vehicles as they

decide which cars will receive their highest votes for

the coming season. Like Tokyo, this session is aimed at

providing test driving opportunities to jurors who are

unable to test certain vehicles in their home markets, or

just want a chance to reconfirm previous evaluations.

Then, in mid-January, all jurors will vote in a secret

ballot online to select our top 10 and top 5 finalists in six

categories. These include World Performance Car, World

Luxury Car, World Green Car, World Car Design, World

Urban Car and the prestigious World Car of the Year. After

the finalists have been tallied and presented to jurors by

WCA partner KPMG, jurors will vote a second time online

to select the winners for 2018.

Our top 3 finalists in each category will be announced at

Bridgestone’s stand inside the Geneva Motor Show in early

March before we reveal the six category winners on March

28 at a high profile World Car prize-giving event which

is now the highlight for the New York International Auto

Show’s opening ceremony.

To complete a busy yearly schedule, World Car will display

up to three category winners at a special World Car stand

inside the London Motor Show in May.

It was great to see you in Tokyo last week. We look forward

to seeing you again in L.A. in November. Safe travels.

Jaguar F-PACE is awarded the World Car of the Year award at the New York International Auto Show

World Car Awards Chairman Peter Lyon speaks at the IAA

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

2018NOMINATIONS

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

B Y M I K E R U T H E R F O R D , D I R E C T O R & V I C E - C H A I R O F T H E W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

If there was a prize for the most nominated company in the

2018 World Car Awards, a highly unlikely manufacturer -

Kia - would win it.

It’s nothing short of astonishing that the comparatively

small and modest marque from South Korea has beaten

German giants BMW and Volkswagen into joint second

place. And even more remarkable is that Kia has forced its

own ‘big sister’ brand, Hyundai, into fourth position. This

wasn’t in the script.

But the fact that Kia proudly sits on top of the WCA pile at

the minute is no guarantee that its Niro, Picanto, Stinger

and Stonic contenders will win the World Car of the Year

and World Urban Car trophies the company has its sights

on.

The competition is fiercer than ever this time around.

Some countries, companies and cars previously thought

of as underdogs on the global stage are now in with a real

chance of picking up World Car honours at our New York

Auto Show prize-giving ceremony next March.

In this respect, Italy deserves a special mention as does

Alfa Romeo with its three nominations - the same number

that far larger, wealthier Audi has secured. Japan’s highly

competitive Suzuki also has three - the same as Toyota

and Lexus combined!

It’s good to see France’s Renault, Peugeot and Citroen

going for World Car glory, too - along with other relative

newcomers such as Dacia of Romania, SEAT (Spain),

Skoda (Czech Republic) and SsangYong (South Korea).

And while our Top 5 Nations table (below) shows that

German, Japanese and South Korean firms are by far the

most prolific makers of all-new cars for the world at this

time, don’t rule out dark horse candidate countries like the

UK with its Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Velar.

It has to be said that for a car-producing land of its

magnitude and importance, the USA isn’t currently

producing nearly as many globally significant all-new

cars as might be expected. This explains why there are so

few Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Fords, Chryslers and Jeeps in

contention this year. Japan’s highly competitive Suzuki has three nominations - the same as Toyota and Lexus combined!

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

Coming back to Kia, on its own it has more nominations

than all those legendary American brands put together.

That’s something that nobody could have or would have

predicted a decade or two ago.

If you’re wondering why some all-new cars - the McLaren

720S Coupe, for example - have somehow failed to make

it onto our provisional lists of eligible vehicles it’s almost

certainly because they will not be on sale in sufficient

numbers on at least two continents by Spring 2018.

Our rules on this are tough but fair - unless a model is ready

to be delivered to paying customers across large parts of

the globe by the early-mid part of next year, it can’t even

be considered to be a 2018 World Car contender.

And this, we believe, is the way it should be.

Don’t rule out dark horse candidate countries like the UK with its Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Velar.

SEAT (Spain) is one of many relative newcomers in this year’s lineup, with its new Ibiza hatchback

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOMINATIONS IN 2018 WORLD CAR AWARDS

Kia 6 (South Korea)

BMW 5 (Germany)

Volkswagen 5 (Germany)

Hyundai 4 (South Korea)

Nissan 4 (Japan)

Audi 3 (Germany)

Alfa Romeo 3 (Italy)

Suzuki 3 (Japan)

Ford 2 (USA)

Honda 2 (Japan)

Land Rover 2 (UK)

Lexus 2 (Japan)

Porsche 2 (Germany)

Renault 2 (France)

SEAT 2 (Spain)

Volvo 2 (Sweden)

Buick/Opel/Vauxhall 1 (USA/Germany/UK)

Chevrolet 1 (USA)

Chrysler 1 (USA)

Citroen 1 (France)

Dacia 1 (Romania)

Ferrari 1 (Italy)

Genesis 1 (South Korea)

Jeep 1 (USA)

Lamborghini 1 (Italy)

Mazda 1 (Japan)

Mitsubishi 1 (Japan)

Opel/Vauxhall 1 (Germany/UK)

Peugeot 1 (France)

Skoda 1 (Czech Republic)

SsangYong 1 (South Korea)

Subaru 1 (Japan)

Toyota 1 (Japan)

TOP 5 NOMINATIONS BY NATION

Germany 17

Japan 14

South Korea 12

Italy 5

USA 5

THE CONTENDERS 2 0 1 8 W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR

Alfa Romeo GiuliaAlfa Romeo Stelvio

BMW X3

Buick Regal / Opel/Vauxhall Insignia

Citroën C3 Aircross

Dacia Duster

Ford Fiesta

Genesis G70

Honda Accord

Hyundai Kona

Jeep Compass

Kia NiroKia PicantoKia StingerKia Stonic

Land Rover DiscoveryRange Rover Velar

Mazda CX-5

Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

Nissan LEAFNissan Micra

Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X

Peugeot 3008

Renault Koléos

SEAT Ibiza

Skoda Karoq

SsangYong Rexton G4

Subaru XV/Crosstrek

Suzuki Swift

Toyota Camry

Volkswagen PoloVolkswagen T-RocVolkswagen Arteon

Volvo XC60Volvo XC40

WORLD URBAN CAR

Ford Fiesta

Hyundai Kona

Kia PicantoKia Stonic

Nissan Micra

SEAT Ibiza

Suzuki Swift

Volkswagen Polo

WORLD LUXURY CAR

Audi A8

BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo

Lexus LS

Porsche CayennePorsche Panamera

WORLD PERFORMANCE CAR

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Audi RS 3 SedanAudi RS 5 Coupé

BMW M5

Ferrari Portofino

Honda Civic Type R

Hyundai i30N

Lexus LC 500

Renault Alpine A110

Suzuki Swift Sport

Volkswagen Polo GTI

WORLD GREEN CAR

BMW 530e iPerformance

Chevrolet Cruze Diesel

Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid

Hyundai FE

Nissan LEAF

WORLD CAR DESIGN

All vehicles above are automatically entered, plus the following:

BMW i8 Roadster

Lamborghini Urus

P R O V I S I O N A L L I S T O F E L I G I B L E V E H I C L E S

AUSTRALIAJ O S H U A D O W L I N G

P A U L G O V E R

AUSTRIAS T E P H A N S C H Ä T Z L

BRAZILJ A S O N V O G E L

L U I Z G U E R R E R O

CANADAM I C H E L D E S L A U R I E R S

S A M I H A J - A S S A A D

M A R K R I C H A R D S O N

CHINAX I A D O N G

L I G E N G

L U I H O N G C A N G

C U I J U N

M I A O J U N

W I L L I A M W A N G K U N

X I O N G H U I ( S E A N ) Q I U

Y U N Q I N G W A N G

S V E N X U

L I A N G Z H A O H U I

COLOMBIAJ O S É C L O P A T O F S K Y

L O N D O Ñ O

UNITED KINGDOM

M I K E R U T H E R F O R D –

V I C E - C H A I R , W O R L D

C A R A W A R D S S T E E R I N G

C O M M I T T E E

R I C H A R D A U C O C K

N A T B A R N E S

R I C H A R D B R E M N E R

K Y L E F O R T U N E

S T E V E F O W L E R

C H A R L I E T U R N E R

FRANCES Y L V A I N R E I S S E R

L I O N E L R O B E R T

GERMANYJ E N S M E I N E R S – V I C E -

C H A I R , W O R L D C A R

A W A R D S S T E E R I N G

C O M M I T T E E

C H R I S T I A N B R I N K M A N N

T H O M A S G E I G E R

G R E G K A B L E

Y O S H I H I R O K I M U R A

P E T E R S C H W E R D T M A N N

D E S S E L L M E I J E R

INDIAS I D D H A R T H V I N A Y A K

P ATA N K A R – D I R E C T O R ,

W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

S T E E R I N G C O M M I T T E E

D H R U V B E H L

S I R I S H C H A N D R A N

G I R I S H K A R K E R A

Y O G E N D R A P R A T A P

H O R M A Z D S O R A B J E E

IRELANDE D D I E C U N N I N G H A M

ITALYC L A I R E B E L

A L E S S A N D R O L A G O

M I C H A E L T A Y L O R

A L E S S A N D R O

M A R C H E T T I T R I C A M O

JAPANP E T E R L Y O N –

C H A I R M A N , W O R L D

C A R A W A R D S S T E E R I N G

C O M M I T T E E

S H I N I C H I K A T S U R A

Y A S U H I K O K A W A M U R A

H I D E S H I M A T S U D A

G O R O O K A Z A K I

K O J I O Z A W A

K A Z U N O R I Y A M A U C H I

M O T O H I R O Y A M A Z A K I

MEXICOH E R N A N A C E V E S

C R I S T I A N M O R E N O

C A R L O S S A N D O V A L

MIDDLE EAST/U.A.E/EGYPT

M O H A M E D S H E T A

N E T H E R L A N D S

H E N N Y H E M M E S

POLANDM A C I E J P E R T Y N S K I

PORTUGALG U I L H E R M E C O S T A

JURORSB Y C O U N T R Y

2 0 1 8 W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

RUSSIAD M I T R Y B A R I N O V

V L A D I M I R S O L O V I E V

V I T A L Y T I S H C H E N K O

SLOVENIAM I L O S M I L A C

SOUTH AFRICAH A N N E S O O S T H U I Z E N

SOUTH KOREAC H A R L E Y C H A E

J O O S I K C H O I

SPAINF E R N A N D O G Ó M E Z

B L A N C O

M A N U E L G Ó M E Z B L A N C O

USAT I M S T E V E N S –

D I R E C T O R , W O R L D C A R

A W A R D S S T E E R I N G

C O M M I T T E E

E R I C A D A M S

M A T T A S K A R I

R O B E R T O B A L D W I N

Z A C E S T R A D A

S T E V E N E W I N G

J O N A T H A N G I T L I N

R I C H A R D H O M A N

J O E L O R I O

J O H N M C C O R M I C K

J A S O N S T E I N

J A C L Y N T R O P

T A M A R A W A R R E N

PLUGGED-IN FOR THE FUTURE

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

B Y S I D D H A R T H V I N A Y A K P A T A N K A R , D I R E C T O R O F T H E W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

The world is going electric, whether you like it or not. The

electric car has taken the exit off the peripheral road, on

to the mainstream one, and is here to stay. 2018 is already

being called the year of the big shift; as companies,

countries and consumers start to mass-adopt the electric

vehicle (EV).

In the past year we have seen massive announcements from

not just governments but also automakers to completely

revolutionise the way they do their business and run their

production today.

I will get into specifics of those announcements but first

it is important to understand where this electric push is

coming from.

It starts with pollution – and governments like China’s have

quickly understood how this is a hot button topic for this

day and age. Which is why China wants to lead the world in

electric car production.

But staying with pollution, study after study shows how

particulate matter is the chief culprit of bad air quality,

followed by toxic gases and fumes. In any case, the internal

combustion is a minority contributor to the problem –

sometimes with an impact as low as 5-10%.

But still we find a crusade against the fossil-fuel engine

and a sentiment shift to electric gripping the world. Cities

like Paris, Athens, Madrid and Mexico City have declared

that they will ban the entry of diesel driven vehicles into

city limits after 2025.

Countries are announcing electric switchover deadlines.

India says it wants to go electric by 2030, China, Britain

and France have announced 2040, and Germany is also

looking at a 2040-50 timeline. But as the debates rage

on – where the electricity will come from to charge these

cars, for instance – automakers have seen the shift in the

tide and are now making huge plans and investments to be

future ready and protect their businesses from the tsunami

that is coming. Paris will go electric from 2040, largely driven by fears over air quality. Photo by Falcon Photography: CC BY-SA

China wants to lead the world in electric car production. Photo by Linuxthink: CC BY-SA

Big announcements? Indeed yes, but what we still do

not know is where all of this takes us – politically and

economically – as well in environmental terms.

Experts predict that a massive shift to electric vehicles

and the subsequent drop in demand for oil, will lead to

major instability in the middle-east and other oil producing

regions.

This could have repercussions of a geo-political nature we

cannot predict at this time. There is still the question of

artificial intelligence and autonomy that is yet unanswered,

and what impact that will have on the automobile industry.

In the middle of all these investments that motown is

having to make, we must not forget that the world is also

debating a shift to autonomous vehicles. It is largely agreed

that it will take time to fix regulations and infrastructure

needed for autonomous vehicles, rather than worry about

the technology itself – as the latter is almost ready today!

With autonomous cars the expectation is there will be a

dramatic drop in accidents and fatalities, a huge increase

in efficiency achieved by these vehicles – meaning longer

range of travel, and incremental benefits to the GDP of

countries worldwide (from the efficiencies, savings from

reduced accidents, and lesser expense on budgets due to

the depleted relevance of fossil fuels). And then there is

the rising trend of ride sharing that begs the question –

will car makers of tomorrow be manufacturers or service

providers to the consumer of the future?

Lots to grapple with, and hence one of the most exciting

eras to live through for sure, isn’t it?

Mercedes-Benz recently declared that it would have its

first all-electric car by 2020 under its new EQ branded

range. Two years later it will offer electric versions of every

single car model it makes.

The Smart brand is likely to go all-electric by 2020. Porsche

says that by 2023, half of the cars rolling off its production

will be electric. Volvo has announced that every car it

unveils from 2019 onwards will have an electric motor,

either as an all-electric EV, plug-in hybrid or hybrid.

Jaguar has the same target for 2020. Audi has already

gone big with its e-trons and now the AI badging its future

cars will get. It will have an all-electric range by 2020. And

BMW will have a staggering 25 electric cars by 2025, with

the X3 set to become its first electric SUV in 2020.

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance will have 12 new

electric cars by 2022 and is already showing off its second

generation Nissan LEAF that has doubled its range to 240

km on a single charge (set to go to 320 km by 2019).

Toyota, Suzuki and Denso have announced a battery

making joint venture in India. Toyota is also working with

Denso to bring out fast charging EVs by 2022.

Volkswagen will begin deliveries of its first electric model

by 2020. VW also says 50 electric cars will get added to its

portfolio by 2025 by which time it hopes to overtake Tesla

as the largest seller of EVs. The VW Group will see 300 EV

models across its 9 brands by 2030!

Former world number one GM also aims to launch two

electric cars by 2019, and 20 all-electrics by 2023.

Image: US Department of Transpartation

Nissan is already showing off its second generation Nissan LEAF that has doubled its range to 240 km on a single charge

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

VW says 50 electric cars will be added to its portfolio by 2025

IAA 2017: AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

B Y J E N S M E I N E R S , V I C E - C H A I R M A N O F T H E W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

Another auto show with few surprises: Virtually every

carmaker sent out so much information prior to the show

that the press day visitor felt like he had seen everything

already. Unless the goal was to meet colleagues or industry

representatives in person, most writers might as well have

covered it from home.

But there were a few exceptions - notably, the AMG Project

One: This “hypercar” is not only extremely fast but also

extremely efficient. A possible downside: Its technology

comes straight from Formula One, but this racing series is

not exactly on the rise, and the rules leading to the current

pack of contenders have actually been strongly criticized.

Another hypercar, the Bugatti Chiron, has taken a different

approach, betting on sheer engine size and power. Bugatti’s

subsequent mistake: Aligning their communication along

the 0-400-0 km/h narrative. They could have expected it

would be broken by someone else shortly. It doesn’t matter

that the Chiron is infinitely more refined than a Koenigsegg.

The Audi Aicon was another surprise (although I have seen

it before), a fully autonomous concept car which does away

entirely with pedals and a steering wheel. The opportunities

this architecture allowed were only partially harnessed,

with a starkly “reduced” exterior, diffuse lighting, and a

lounge-type interior without headrests and air bags: They

are not needed anymore in a fully autonomous car.

BMW explored the same genre with the iVision Dynamics, a

concept that seemed somewhat unfinished and did not even

allow a look inside. Outside, the “Hofmeister kink” is gone,

the kidney grille has grown, but it’s not a grille anymore.

BMW chief Harald Krüger says the car will provide a sporty

feel. Unlike the Audi, it is designed to still let you take the

wheel if you so desire.

The fully electric VW I.D. Crozz and the Skoda Vision E are

variations of the same MEB platform, and the styling is

surprisingly honest about it; I would have expected more

differentiation. Economies of scale, quite obviously, still

apply in the world of electrics.

Cars for customers

While we are vocally ascertained that the world of electrified

pods and lounges may be just around the corner and that

we will all love it, since it relieves us from the dreadful task

of driving (that’s the narrative, believe it or not), there

were plenty of cars that we’d rather drive without any

assistance, thank you very much.

One of them is the 115-horsepower Volkswagen Up GTI. It

will deliver a direct and unfiltered driving experience, light-Extremely fast and extremely efficient: The AMG Project One at the IAA. Photo by Matti Blume: CC BY-SA

Several established brands, including some of the most

vocal on electrification, are shooting for the segment of

large and powerful SUVs. Witness the awesome Land Rover

Discovery SVX - with a supercharged 525-horsepower V-8.

Every one of their new cars from 2020 onwards will be

“electrified”, but this one isn’t.

Then there’s the new BMW X7, shown in the form of a

concept car. Sure, there’s a “plug-in hybrid” under the

hood - with a mere 6 cylinders. You can bet that BMW

will offer a V-8 in the production car, and it will be wildly

popular.

Meanwhile, Porsche is launching the new Cayenne with

a top-of-the-line Turbo version that makes a full 550

horsepower. But the brand is so shaken by the diesel

scandal that they are not yet ready to commit to the new

Cayenne V6 and V8 diesel, even though they are ready

for the market. If Porsche believes that they can move

these customers into their upcoming hybrids and that the

customers will actually love the experience, they may be in

for a rude awakening.

Many paths are open in the automotive world these days,

and Frankfurt showcased a lot of them, but a true sense

of direction was absent. Tesla, the great disruptor, was

missing, as were a number of mainstream brands such as

Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot and Nissan. At least Chancellor

Merkel didn’t fail to appear before the industry - and deliver

another variation of her ceaseless admonishment.

In other words, this year’s Frankfurt auto show was as fun

and entertaining as ever. Enlightening, it wasn’t.

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

weight design, and clean shapes. No wonder VW likens it to

the original Golf GTI.

Crossover SUVs are still the rage: The Volkswagen T-Roc

may be the brand’s most important model in Europe and

China, and the Audi Q2 is doing extremely well for the

brand. Virtually every brand is moving into the compact

crossover segment, and the Chinese brands, which have

a head start, are unable to use it outside of their home

market.

Their move into Europe is beginning right now. Great Wall

is launching with their luxury brand Wey: The two SUV

models, VV5s and VV7s, are beautifully executed, just like

the plug-in hybrid called P8. If the technology delivers what

the design promises, they could work quite well in Europe.

By contrast, Chery has chosen to launch their mainstream

brand in Europe, even though they could have opted to

use the more upmarket Qoros brand, which already has

some recognition - and vastly superior design. A wasted

opportunity.

Then there’s Borgward, the long-forgotten German brand

resurrected by the Chinese. The European market launches

of the current BX5, BX6 and BX7 models, designed before

the mother company Foton even decided to go for the

Borgward name, are just around the corner.

But the Isabella Concept is stunning - and indicative of

the brand’s future design language. It does without retro

elements, which we found curious, given chief designer

Anders Warming’s history with Mini.

Stunning: Borgward’s Isabella concept does without retro styling elements

Land Rover Discovery SVX: Several established brands, including some of the most vocal on electrification, are shooting for the segment of large and powerful SUVs.

WORLD CAR STAGES ITS FIRST-EVER TOKYO TEST DRIVE

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

12 jurors, 8 cars gather at BMW Group Tokyo Bay

Always evolving, always pushing the limits of what’s

possible -- that’s the nature of the world’s No 1 car awards

program. So it was this year that World Car decided to

make the most of our juror visits to Japan for the biannual

Tokyo Motor Show by staging our first-ever Tokyo Test

Drive event.

At the outset, a very special thanks must go to BMW Japan

for allowing World Car to use their massive, state-of-the-

art BMW Group Tokyo Bay showroom theme park as a base.

A dozen jurors from Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany,

Korea and the U.K. gathered before the first press day --

24 hours after a powerful typhoon passed through the city,

to test drive eight eligible vehicles on the firm’s unique test

track as well as public roads around the facility. Roughly the size of a baseball field, BMW’s on-site test

track is the largest of its kind in the Tokyo metropolitan area

and enabled jurors to test cars back to back in a controlled

environment and secure some necessary photographs for

test drive reports.

Two other jurors from India, who could not attend our

official drive day due to prior engagements, were able to

test drive three eligible cars the previous day, giving them

precious insight into some of the most hotly contested

categories for 2018.

Apart from the eight visiting jurors from overseas, four

Japan-based jury members also participated in this first-

ever drive experiment. On the OEM side, several staffers

from Honda and Suzuki press departments also made

appearances to support the inaugural event.Most of the assembled vehicles were cars that jurors could not drive in their home markets – cars like the Suzuki Swift Sport

B Y P E T E R L Y O N , W O R L D C A R A W A R D S C H A I R M A N

A dozen jurors from Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, Korea and the U.K. gathered before the first press day to test drive eight eligible vehicles

that non-American jurors find difficult to access in their

home countries. For the L.A. event, World Car expects

to welcome jurors from as far afield as Australia, Brazil,

Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland,

Russia, UK and of course the U.S.

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing as many jurors

as possible at our “L.A. Test Drives” November 26 - 30th.

Safe travels!

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

Most of the assembled vehicles were cars that jurors could

not drive in their home markets – cars like the just launched

BMW X3, Honda Civic Type R, Lexus LC500h, Mazda CX-5,

Subaru XV, Suzuki Swift Sport and Toyota Camry. After a

brief facility tour by BMW Japan CEO Peter Kronschnabl, in

which jurors learned a lot about the Japanese market, the

test drive started in earnest along the Wangan expressway.

World Car has now added the biannual Tokyo Test Drive

to an expanding line-up of global events organised to

coincide with major motor shows, thus lifting the brand’s

cache around the world. This menu begins with our annual

drive program launch at the reigning WCOTY winner’s

stand inside the Frankfurt or Paris shows in September,

then moves onto the Tokyo Test Drive in October before

proceeding to the Los Angeles Test Drives in November,

at which over two dozen jurors drive some 20-plus eligible

vehicles.

In the same way as the Tokyo event gives visiting jurors

the chance to drive some Japanese cars with limited

global accessibility, the “L.A. Test Drives” are critically

important as they provide jury members with access to

many American, Korean, Swedish and German contenders

World Car Awards Chairman Peter Lyon addresses eager jurors ahead of the drive event

Visiting jurors and test models at the World Car Awards Tokyo Test Drive event

BMW Japan CEO Peter Kronschnabl led a tour of the Tokyo Bay facility, offering insights into the Japanese market

WORLD CAR AWARDS, JAGUAR AND McLAREN IN THE LIMELIGHT

AT LONDON MOTOR SHOW

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

Jaguar’s two World Car Awards victories in April were

game-changers. The pair of newly-acquired trophies

promptly, prominently and proudly went on display within

the British firm’s glitzy exhibits at the New York and

Shanghai Auto Shows.

But at the smaller, more intimate London Motor Show a

few days later in early May, WCA had its very own stand

where the victorious Jag F-PACE, sporting a unique WCOTY

livery, was displayed alongside those much travelled and

coveted World Car of the Year and World Car Design of the

Year gongs.

Special security measures were deployed 24 hours a day

to protect the pair of priceless awards which the car-

mad British public seemed as interested in as the winning

vehicle itself. As one London showgoer accurately observed:

“These are the ‘Oscars’ of the car world and although you

often hear about such trophies, they’re rarely shown in the

flesh to ordinary members of the public like me - so it was

great to see them at the London Show.”

Jeremy Hicks, Jaguar UK’s Managing Director, added:

“Since winning WCOTY, F-PACE has become one of the

greatest British automotive success stories and the

fastest-selling Jaguar ever; fully designed, developed and

built in the UK, it has in 2017 triumphed over some of the

world’s largest brands to win two World Car of the Year

titles. It was only right that the car and both of the trophies

it won were displayed in the UK at the London Motor Show

for the whole nation to see.”The World Car Awards stand at the London Motor Show attracted thousands of showgoers keen to closely inspect Jag’s F-PACE - the 2017 WCOTY

B Y M I K E R U T H E R F O R D , D I R E C T O R & V I C E - C H A I R O F T H E W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

HRH Prince Michael of Kent made a beeline for the World Car stand at the London Show in 2016 and again in 2017

Beaufort Securities confirmed that thousands of visitors

from the the UK and further afield dropped in on the World

Car stand which also included another true Brit - the

McLaren 570S which was one of the runners-up in our 2017

World Performance Car competition.

Showgoers appreciated the fact that they could get up close

and personal with the F-PACE and 570S while speaking

with World Car personnel about why these two models

were so highly rated by our global network of independent

jurors who voted back in January and February for their

favourite cars of 2017.

The first round of voting for the 2018 World Car Awards is

now less than three months away. And for the third year in

succession, WCA will have its own stand at the next London

Motor Show.

The exhibition will be staged at Excel, a stone’s throw from

London City Airport between May 17 and 20, 2018.

Journalists/jurors from Britain and overseas can obtain

media passes by going to:

thelondonmotorshow.co.uk/press-registration-form/

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

Alec Mumford, Chairman of the London Motor Show said:

“It’s thanks to credible exhibitors like the World Car Awards

and the presence of exciting cars like the WCOTY-winning

Jaguar F-PACE that the London Motor Show has grown in

popularity and stature and is therefore able to move to a

bigger, better, more upmarket venue from 2018.”

Celebrities, sports stars, leading motor industry figures,

ex-Formula One drivers and a member of the Royal Family

visited the World Car stand at Britain’s motoring event of

2017 in the capital of England.

A would-be McLaren buyer gets behind the wheel of the McLaren, courtesy of WCA at the London Motor Show.

Tiff Needell - a daily visitor to the World Car stand in London last year and this year

A McLaren 570S, one of the runners-up in our 2017 World Performance Car competition, surrounded by champagne bottles at the World Car Awards stand. Photo: Julian Greenley

wcoty.com or Beth Rhind, Executive Manager, beth@wcoty.com

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