The awards take place at the New York International Auto Show on 2 April 2015 and will see the winners revealed for the 2015 World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year.

A jury of 75 international automotive journalists have selected the following finalists in the World Car of the Year, World Luxury Car and World Performance Car categories by secret ballot.

The 2015 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) will be selected from the following 10 finalists:

• BMW 2 Series Active Tourer                  

• Citroën C4 Cactus

• Ford Mustang

• Hyundai Genesis

• Jeep Renegade

• Mazda2

• Mercedes-Benz C-Class

• MINI 5 door / MINI 4 door

• Nissan Qashqai

• Volkswagen Passat

The 2015 World Luxury Car will be chosen from one of these top 10 finalists:


• BMW i8

• BMW X6

• Cadillac ATS Coupe

• Cadillac Escalade / ESV

• Kia K900

• Lexus NX

• Lexus RC

• Lincoln MKC

• Mercedes-Benz S Coupe

• Range Rover Autobiography Black LWB

The 2015 World Performance Car top ten finalists are:


• Audi S1

• Audi S3

• Audi TT / TTS

• Bentley Continental GT Speed

• BMW M4 Coupe / M3 Sedan

• Corvette Z06

• Dodge Challenger
• SRT Hellcat

• Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe

• Lexus RC-F

• Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

The 2015 World Green Car category is handled differently. Five experts in “green” technology were appointed 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 75 jurors in their second round of voting this month.

The finalists for 2015 are:

• BMW i8

• Hyundai x35 / Tucson Fuel Cell

• Kia Soul EV

• Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine

• Volkswagen Golf GTE

Cars eligible for the 2015 World Car Design of the Year award are taken from the list of World Car candidates or may be included as a stand-alone entry provided the vehicle is available in quantities of at least 10 in one major market during the period beginning 1 January 2014 and ending 31 May 2015.  Candidates may be pre-production or all-new production.

The five finalists chosen for the jurors are:

• BMW 2 Series Active Tourer

• Citroën C4 Cactus

• Mercedes-Benz C-Class

• Porsche Macan

• Volvo XC90

The next stop takes place at the Geneva International Auto Show on Tuesday 3 March when the top three finalists in all categories will be announced.