'World Car of the Year' top three named

IMG: The Audi A3

The top three finalists for the World Car, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year awards have been announced in Geneva.

The overall winners in all categories will be declared at the New York International Auto Show on 17 April 2014.

From an initial entry list of twenty-four new vehicles from all over the world, then a shortlist of finalists (View), the top three contenders for the overall 2014 World Car of the Year title have been revealed:

Audi A3
BMW 4 Series
Mazda3

The World Luxury Car award was created to acknowledge higher-priced premium models selling in limited numbers worldwide. The top three finalists are:

Bentley Flying Spur
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Range Rover Sport

The top three finalists in the World Performance Car category are:

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Ferrari 458 Speciale
Porsche 911 GT3

The World Green Car award jurors chose these top three finalists for 2014:

Audi A3 Sportback g-tron (+ Audi e-gas)  
BMW i3
Volkswagen XL1

The World Car Design of the Year jurors chose the following top three finalists:

BMW i3
Mazda3
Mercedes-Benz C-Class