LOOK: BYD Seal And Dolphin Are Finalists At The World Car Awards

The World Car Finals powered by Brembo continues with the announcement of the “Top Three in the World” finalists today at the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS). For the first time, this also marks BYD, now the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, to be part of the finalists at the World Car Awards. The BYD Seal and Dolphin are finalists for the World Car of the Year and World Urban Car, respectively.

Sandro Mesquita, CEO of GIMS, said: ‘’We are thrilled to welcome the World Car Awards at our Geneva Salon. Our Show is an event etched in the calendar of car enthusiasts worldwide, which makes it a perfect fit to discover the World Car Awards 2024 finalists.”

The countdown ends on March 27th when the winners will be announced live at the 2024 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) during an awards ceremony. 2024 marks the 19th year of the World Car Awards’ partnership with the show.

“We’re pleased to kick off the New York Auto Show each year by celebrating the winners of the World Car Awards,” said Mark Schienberg, president of NYIAS. Receiving this distinction from 100 of the world’s top automotive journalists is a major victory for all those involved and is a perfect way to open North America’s first and largest-attended auto show. Congratulations to the World Car team on 20 years of excellence, and best of luck to all the finalists!”

A jury of 100+ distinguished international automotive journalists from 29 countries selected the finalists by secret ballot based on their evaluation of each eligible vehicle as part of their professional work. The jurors’ votes were then tabulated by KPMG.

“Congratulations to the finalists of the prestigious World Car Awards,” says Daniele Schillaci, Brembo’s Chief Executive Officer.” Today, more than ever, cutting-edge technologies and megatrends are shaping the automotive landscape. For Brembo, being forward-looking has always made a difference, and your special achievement embodies exactly this spirit of innovation. We eagerly await the announcement of the winners and extend our best wishes to all of the participants.”

From an initial list of 70 eligible vehicles across all categories, the World Car Awards’ jurors first voted to establish a short-list of 10 finalists for World Car of the Year and five for each of the other categories, except Design. They then evaluated and scored those finalists on eight separate parameters, based on their own test drive experiences, to determine the “Top Three in the World” and ultimately the winner in each category.

The Top Three in the World finalists for each category are:

• World Car of the Year
  • BYD Seal
  • Kia EV9
  • Volvo EX30
• World Luxury Car
  • BMW 5 Series / i5
  • Mercedes-Benz E-Class
  • Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV
• World Performance Car
  • BMW M2
  • BMW XM
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
• World Electric Vehicle
  • BMW i5
  • Kia EV9
  • Volvo EX30
• World Urban Car
  • BYD Dolphin
  • Lexus LBX
  • Volvo EX30
• World Car Design of the Year
  • Ford Bronco
  • Ferrari Purosangue
  • Toyota Prius

A design panel consisting of six highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors’ final vote. The design experts are in alphabetical order:

• Gert Hildebrand (Germany – Owner, Hildebrand-Design)
• Patrick le Quément (France – Designer and President of the Strategy Committee – The Sustainable Design School),
• Tom Matano (USA – Academy of Art University, Former Head of Design – Mazda)
• Victor Nacif (USA – Chief Creative Officer, Brojure.com and Design instructor, NewSchool of Architecture and Design)
• Shiro Nakamura (Japan – CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.)
• Frank Stephenson (UK – Founder, Frank Stephenson Design)

The Road to the World Car Awards is an annual journey that follows 100+ of our international jurors as they test-drive, and vote on, the eligible vehicles for the awards’ season. The jurors’ road-test journey is captured virtually on World Car TV. The jurors provide viewers with reviews and commentary on the awards’ eligible vehicles in the six categories listed above.