World Car and World Performance Car of the Year finalists announced

PRESS RELEASE

World Car of the Year Announces Top 10 Finalists

New York, NY – : From an initial entry list of twenty-eight (28) new vehicles from all over the world, a short list of ten finalists for the third annual World Car of the Year (WCOTY) awards were announced by the international accounting firm KPMG. The winners of the 2007 WCOTY will be unveiled during Press Preview at the upcoming New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) on Thursday, April 5, 2007.

Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of 45 top-level automotive journalists from around the world. To be eligible, the car must be in production, and sold in at least five countries on two continents.

World Car - Top Ten Finalists:
The following Top Ten World Car finalists are listed below in alphabetical order:

• Audi Q7 Audi TT
• Citroen C4 Picasso
• Citroen C6
• Fiat Grande Punto
• Jaguar XK
• Lexus LS 460
• Mercedes CL
• MINI
• Suzuki SX4 / Fiat Sedici


World Performance Car - Top Ten Finalists
In addition, the following Top Ten World Performance Car finalists are:

* Audi RS4
* Audi S6
* BMW 335i
* BMW M / Z4 M Coupe/Roadster
* Ferrari 599 GTB
* Jaguar XKR
* Mazda 3 MPS / Mazdaspeed3
* Porsche 911 GT3
* Porsche 911 Turbo
* Renault Clio Renault Sport


The jurors' next steps are to re-evaluate the "Top Ten" cars in the above categories in preparation for a final round of voting on March 1st. Jury members will specifically rate each vehicle in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal, and significance. KPMG will tabulate the vote results and the top three finalists will be announced no later than Thursday, March 8th, 2007.

There are no Top Ten finalists for World Green Car or for World Design of the Year. Instead, jurors will vote in those categories on March 1st. The Top Three finalists in all awards categories will then be announced on Thursday, March 8th.

The 2007 World Car of the Year, as well as the winners of the World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year titles will all be declared on Thursday, April 5, 2007 during a press conference to be held at the New York International Auto Show.

"Announcing the annual World Car of the Year awards at the New York show is a fitting finale to the auto show season that begins each fall with either the Paris or Frankfurt motor shows," said Gerry Malloy, co-chair, WCOTY. "Next, it's on to Tokyo in alternating years. The Detroit show takes centre stage in January while Geneva claims the spotlight in March. Finally, in April, the season reaches its exciting climax at the New York International Auto Show."

About World Car of the Year
The World Car of the Year Awards program is initiated by, organized by, and conducted by, automotive journalists from around the globe. A non-profit association guided by a steering committee of journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America administers the awards program. WCOTY is intended to complement, not compete with, existing COTY awards by raising consumer awareness of regional Car of the Year award programs as well as the World Car of the Year.