Shortlist for World Car of the Year announced

An initial list of 44 has been whittled down to three finalists in the Performance and Green Car categories and to four in the overall World Car of the Year award, to be officially revealed at this year's New York Auto Show on March 28. The inclusion of an extra finalist in the main category indicates how strong competition has been over the past 12 months. In the performance category, the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Porsche Cayman/Boxter and Toyota GT86 (also sold as the Subaru BRZ) will go head to head. Porsche won the award last year for its 911 and in 2011, Ferrari scooped the honors for its 458 Italia. However, with the GT 86, Toyota is making its first appearance in the category since the awards were launched in 2004. In the main World Car of the Year category, the, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Porsche Cayman/Boxter, Toyota GT 86, and Volkswagen Golf are the remaining finalists, while the Green Car of Year category will be contested by the Renault Zoe, the Tesla Model S and the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid. Now in their ninth year, the International Car of the Year awards are designed as much to reflect the reality of the global marketplace as to celebrate automotive excellence on a global scale. Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel of 66 of the world's leading car journalists while the initial finalists for the Green Car award were selected by five leading ‘green' technology experts. However, the same panel of journalists will make the ultimate decision as to which is the best vehicle in its class.