As this year’s New York Auto Show approaches, organizers of the annual World Car of the Year awards have released details about the top three finalists for each of the World Car, World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design categories. The final winner of each respective category will be revealed on March 20th at a press event in New York.

To be eligible for an award, the vehicles had to be in production, and sold, on at least two continents during 2008. The cars were shortlisted from an original field of 39 new models by a panel of 47 judges comprised of automotive journalists and industry officials from 24 countries. The top three finalists in each category are as follows:
World Car
Ford Mondeo
Mazda2 / Mazda Demio
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
World Performance Car
Audi R8
Audi S5 Coupe
BMW M3
World Green Car
BMW 118d with Efficient Dynamics
SmartForTwo cdi
Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI
World Car Design
Audi R8
Mazda2 / Mazda Demio
Volvo C30
Motor Authority 2008 WCOTY top three finalists announced