BMW 320i 2006 News

A vote by 75 motoring journalists from 22 countries has awarded the compact prestige car the World Car of the Year award for 2015. It finished on top of a 24-car field and eventually beat the two other finalists, the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Passat. The other big prizes for 2015, Green Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year, went to the plug-in hybrid BMW i8 and the Mercedes-AMG GT coupe. The winners were announced at the New York Motor Show today at an event hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum at the culmination of a six-month voting process. The C-Class delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class. The awards are in their 11th year and previous winners include the Audi A6, BMW 3 Series, Lexus LS460 and Volkswagen Golf, Polo and Up. To be eligible for the overall World Car award, candidate cars must have become available for sale on at least two continents between January 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015. The WCOTY wins by Mercedes-Benz follow its victories in the Green Car contest in 2007 with the E320 Bluetec and 2012 with the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and its Luxury Car success with the S Class in 2014. “We are extremely delighted of winning the honour of World Car of the Year,” says the chairman of Daimler, Dr Dieter Zetsche. The WCOTY victory follows a similar success for the C-Class in the CarsGuide Car of the Year award. The WCOTY judging panel says: “Taking its design and technological cues from the S-Class, the C-Class employs an all-new aluminium/steel hybrid platform and updated rear-drive powertrains that delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.”   WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2015 Overall winner: Mercedes-Benz C-Class Green Car: BMW i8 Performance Car: Mercedes-AMG GT Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S Coupe Design: Citroen Cactus PREVIOUS WORLD COTY WINNERS: 2014: Audi A3 2013: Volkswagen Golf 2012: Volkswagen Up 2011: Nissan Leaf 2010: Volkswagen Polo 2009: Volkswagen Golf 2008: Mazda2 2007: Lexus LS460 2006: BMW 3 Series 2005: Audi A6

THE Audi A3 small car -- which owes much of its DNA to the Volkswagen Golf -- has won the 2014 World Car of the Year, as voted by 69 jurors from 22 countries. The luxury hatch toppled the widely-tipped favourite, the Mazda3 from Japan, in the awards announced at the New York motor show today. The Audi A3 was among five German cars that took out a cleansweep of the 2014 World Car of the Year categories, and it was Audi’s second win in 10 years, having won the inaugural award. Indeed, German cars have won seven of the past 10 World Car of the Year awards, Japanese brands have won the remaining three. Accepting the award on behalf of the company, Audi's North America president Scott Keogh said: “The Audi A3 has only been on sale three weeks and already it’s off to a flying start.” Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, said: “This major award win is an achievement that the whole company can celebrate.” The Audi A3 was among 24 finalists that included the BMW i3 electric car, which won the Green Car of the Year and the Car Design of the Year. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the Luxury Car of the Year while the Porsche 911 GT3 was awarded top performance car honours. But the Mazda3 had emerged as an early favourite for the outright World Car of the Year award following rave reviews globally since it went on sale late last year. The previous generation Mazda3 has been Australia’s top selling car for two of the past three years, and was the vehicle that ended the Holden Commodore’s record 15-years as the market leader, in 2011. The Mazda3 is returned to the top of the sales charts so far this year -- after being overtaken by the Toyota Corolla in 2013 -- and is likely to take out top-seller status this year buoyed by the new model which went on sale in January. World car of the year winners 2014 – Audi A3 2013 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk7 2012 -- Volkswagen Up 2011 -- Nissan Leaf 2010 -- Volkswagen Polo 2009 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk6 2008 -- Mazda2 2007 -- Lexus LS460 2006 -- BMW 3 Series 2005 -- Audi A6 2014 World Car of The Year category winners Green car of the Year -- BMW i3 electric car Car Design of the Year -- BMW i3 electric car Performance Car of the Year -- Porsche 911 GT3 Luxury Car of the Year – Mercedes-Benz S-Class This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling  

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