Alfa Romeo's new
Giulietta and Ferrari's 458 Italia are both through to
the final shortlist of three for 2011 World Car
Design of the Year award while the Maranello high
performance machine is also through to the last stage of
2011 World Performance Car of the Year.
However the Giulietta
didn't make it through the last three finalists in the
most important award of the contest, 2011 World Car
of the Year. The final contenders for 2011 World
Car of the Year award will be the Audi A8, the BMW 5
Series and the Nissan Leaf.
Meanwhile cars that
are eligible for the 2011 World Car Design of the
Year award are taken from the list of World Car
of the Year award candidates or they may be included
as a stand-alone entry provided the vehicle is
introduced and available for sale in at least one major
market during the period beginning January 1, 2010 and
ending May 30th, 2011.
A design panel
consisting of five highly respected world design experts
was asked to first review each candidate, and then
establish a short-list of recommendations for the
jurors. The design experts were: Masatsugu Arimoto
(Japan), Silvia Baruffaldi (Italy), Gernot Bracht
(Germany), Sam Livingstone (UK) and Tom Matano (USA).
Jurors then voted on the experts' recommendations and
alongside the Giulietta and 458 Italia the final member
of the trio going forward to the final showdown in this
category was the Aston Martin Rapide.
The 458 Italia has
made it a double by also making it through to the final
three in the 2011 World Performance Car of the Year
award category where it faces a showdown with two German
rivals: Mercedes-Benz's SLS AMG and Porsche's 911 Turbo.
While the winner of the overall 2011 World Car of the
Year award must excel in a broad range of
attributes, the 2011 World Performance Car of the
Year award must demonstrate a specific and overt
sports/performance orientation while satisfying the same
availability criteria as for the overall World Car of
the Year award.
Now in their seventh
year, the annual World Car of the Year awards
have grown in importance. The awards were inaugurated in
2003, and officially launched in January 2004, to
reflect the reality of the global marketplace, as well
as to recognise and reward automotive excellence on an
international scale. The awards are intended to
complement, not compete, with existing national and
regional Car of the Year programs. The awards are
administered by a non-profit association, under the
guidance of a Steering Committee of pre-eminent
automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North
America. Peter Lyon (Japan) and Matt Davis (Italy) are
the co-chairs; John McCormick (USA), Jens Meiners
(Germany) and Gerry Malloy (Canada) are the directors.
