2013 World Car of the Year Awards announced. Volkswagen wins big.
Every year, an international panel of automotive journalists selects the best cars in the world under various categories, handing out its awards at the .
聽Atop the hierarchy is the World Car of the Year, followed by the World Performance Car, the World Car Design of the Year and the World Green Car (where our own John Voelcker, editor of , contributed his expertise for the panel of judges).
聽For 2013, the panel chose the (which will debut in the United States next year, as a 2015 model) as the World Car of the Year, saying it was 鈥渁s close to the perfect hatchback design as any car company has come yet. If ever there was a car for everyman, the Golf is it.鈥�
聽This makes two in a row for Volkswagen, as the brand took top honors in 2012 with its Up! city car. The new Golf beat an impressive list of finalists, including the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the Porsche Boxster / Cayman and the Scion FR-S / Subaru BRZ / Toyota GT 86.
In the World Performance Car category, the new / Cayman defeated the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and the Scion FR-S / Subaru BRZ / Toyota GT 86 to take the win, with the judges declaring that the Boxster is now less of a 鈥渟ecretary鈥檚 ,鈥� while is a 鈥渂etter Porsche sports car than the iconic 911.鈥� Those are their words, not ours.
In the World Car Design of the Year Category, it was the stunning new that beat out challengers like the Mazda6 and the Aston Martin Vanquish. Of their pick the panelists called the F-Type 鈥渁lmost Italian at first glance,鈥� saying that the F-Type is 鈥渢he promising dawn for the company鈥檚 latest roadster.鈥�
The continued its global winning streak, earning the pick as the World Green and beating out the Renault Zoe and the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid in the process
Calling the Model S 鈥渇ast and stylish,鈥� the judges cited the car鈥檚 sensible range, seating capacity and near-supercar performance as grounds for their selection. 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽聽
