And then there were 鈥� 31.
Three months after the awards program announced 51 candidates in five 2017 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) categories and overall World Car, they鈥檝e trimmed the number by 20.
That leaves five finalists each in luxury, performance, green, urban and design categories and 10 for the overall award. The list will be trimmed to three in each category by March 7 at the Geneva International Auto Show, with winners announced April 13 at the New York International Auto Show.
Nominations were spread around among 24 brands, but Audi captured three slots for the overall award with the A5/S5 Coupe, Q2 and Q5. Audi led overall with a total of five nominations, including design, followed by Toyota with three, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mazda, Honda and Jaguar with two each. Four finalists for the overall award also were named design finalists.
Following is a list of WCOTY finalists alphabetically by category:
OVERALL
鈥惵燗udi A5/S5 Coup茅
鈥惵燗udi Q2
鈥惵燗udi Q5
鈥惵燜iat/Abarth 124 Spyder
鈥惵燞onda Civic
鈥惵燡aguar F鈥怭ACE
鈥惵燤azda CX鈥�9
鈥惵燬koda Kodiaq
鈥惵燭oyota C鈥怘R
鈥惵燰olkswagen Tiguan
LUXURY CAR
鈥惵燘entley Bentayga
鈥惵燘MW 5 Series
鈥惵燝enesis G90
鈥惵燤ercedes鈥怋enz E鈥怌lass
鈥惵燰olvo S90 / V90
PERFORMANCE CAR
鈥惵燗ston Martin DB11
鈥惵燗udi R8 Spyder
鈥惵燞onda/Acura NSX
鈥惵燤cLaren 570s
鈥惵燩orsche Boxster Cayman
GREEN CAR
鈥惵燙hevrolet Bolt
鈥惵燞onda Clarity Fuel鈥怌ell Car
鈥惵燞yundai Ioniq
鈥惵燭esla Model X
鈥惵燭oyota Prius Prime
URBAN CAR
鈥惵燘MW i3 (94 Ah)
鈥惵燙itroen C3
鈥惵燜ord KA+
鈥惵燬mart Cabriolet
鈥惵燬uzuki Ignis
DESIGN
鈥惵燗udi A5/S5 Coup茅
鈥惵燡aguar F鈥怭ACE
鈥惵燤azda CX鈥�9
鈥惵燤ercedes S鈥怌lass Cabriolet
鈥惵燭oyota CH鈥怰
鈥淭he World Car Awards is more than just an awards program,鈥� the organization said in a press release accompanying announcement of the finalists. 鈥淲orld Car has a dual mission of celebrating the best of today and inspiring the best of tomorrow with a focus on excellence and innovation on a global scale.鈥�
鈥淥ur community of experts connects, influences and ultimately tells the stories of the cars, their technologies and their role in our world,鈥� according to the World Car statement. 鈥淭his important connection is also how we seek to drive innovation 鈥� as the global nature of the industry continues to strengthen, and the pace of innovation continues to accelerate.鈥�
A jury of 75 international automotive journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each candidate as part of their professional work.
Last year鈥檚 winners were the Mazda MX-5, World Car of the Year and design of the year; BMW 7 Series, luxury car; Audi R8 Coupe, performance car, and Toyota Mirai, green car.
A full list of the 2017 World Car nominations by category is available at the WCOTY website. And if you can鈥檛 wait for the winners, there鈥檚 still plenty from which to choose.
