First Qualifiers Revealed for 2014 World Car of the Year Awards

The first round of qualifiers has been announced for the World Car of the Year Awards, chosen by an international and independent panel of automotive journalists from around the globe, all "dedicated to ensuring the [awards program] is carried out with the utmost objectivity, credibility and integrity."

To achieve that goal, the judges first selected the top qualified vehicles for five different award categories, including World Car of the Year, Luxury Car of the Year, World Performance Car of the Year, World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year. Those lists will then be pared down to the top three choices in each segment, with the latter entries scheduled to be revealed during the Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland in March. Finally, following more weeks of contemplation and communication, the actual winners in each class will be announced during the New York International Auto Show on April 17, 2014.

As for this year's candidates for the World Car of the Year Awards, they include the following finalists:

• Audi A3
• BMW 4 Series
• BMW i
• Cadillac CTS
• Citroen C4 Picasso
• Ford Fusion/Mondeo
• Infiniti Q50
• Jeep Cherokee
• Lexus IS
• Mazda Mazda3
• Peugeot 308
• Skoda Octavia

2014 World Luxury Car of the Year Finalists

This year marks the first time a World Car Award is being offered specifically for luxury vehicles, with the following entries looking to claim the segment's inaugural trophy:

• Bentley Flying Spur
• BMW X5
• Cadillac ELR
• Cadillac Escalade
• Maserati Ghibli
• Maserati Quattroporte
• Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• Porsche Macan
• Range Rover Sport
• Rolls-Royce Wraith

2014 World Performance Car of the Year Award

Porsche has won the two previous Performance Car titles in a row and will be looking for the hat trick with two potential winners this time around. But they'll have to battle against a strong field of contenders made up of:

• Alfa Romeo 4C
• Audi RS 6 Avant
• BMW M6 Gran Coupe
• Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
• Ferrari 458 Speciale
• Ford Fiesta ST
• Lamborghini Aventador
• Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG
• Porsche 911 GT3
• Porsche 911 Turbo
• Volkswagen Golf GTI

2014 World Green Car of the Year Award

Because of the unique attention focused on this class, the finalists below were handpicked by a team of five green-tech experts, with the full panel of World Car judges set to take over from there and pick a winner from: 

• Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (and Audi's "e-gas" synthetic fuel)
• BMW i3
• Honda Accord Hybrid
• Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
• Volkswagen XL1

2014 World Car Design of the Year

Much as with the green team, the design finalists below were selected by a group of five specialists in their field, who nominated:

• BMW i3
• Cadillac CTS
• Citroen C4 Picasso
• Mazda Mazda3
• Lexus IS
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class
• Volkswagen XL1