Not to be outdone by the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER held at this month’s Detroit Auto Show, the organizers of April’s New York Auto Show have started to pool together the finalists for its annual World Car of the Year awards. This is only the third time the event is being run and just like last year and the one that preceded it some of the choices for the finalists are a little dubious.

Once again the vehicles are divided up into ‘Best Car’ and ‘Best Performance Car’ segments, with each category containing ten vehicles picked from an original list of 39 entrants. Judging the event in April will be a team comprised of 47 automotive journalists from across 23 countries, and to be eligible cars must be in production and sold in at least five countries on two continents. Follow the jump to see the list of finalists for this year’s awards.

World Car - Top Ten Finalists in alphabetical order:

Audi A5/S5
Audi R8
Cadillac CTS
Ford Mondeo
Ford S-Max
Mazda2 Demio
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Nissan Qashqai/Dualis
Nissan Skyline Coupe/Infiniti G37 Coupe
Volvo C30

World Performance Car - Top Ten Finalists in alphabetical order:

Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster
Audi R8
Audi S5
BMW M3
Honda Civic Type R
Maserati GranTurismo
Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG
Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG
Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series
Renault Clio F1 Team R27


Source: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Nissan Qashqai/Dualis


I really don't get what makes the Qashqai so special. It doesn't look particularly exciting to begin with, the name is hard to pronounce (for some people) and I don't think it even stands out in its segment.

I'm sure it's great value for money and a good car, but it doesn't strike me as anything special.

Waiting list in Croatia for that Qashqai c**p is more than a year!!!

And people are actually buying it...

Odd, just odd.

I don't turn my head when I see this car on the road. It just doesn't do anything for me. Like I said, the value-for-money part probably puts it on the list, but other than that it doesn't look like anything special. The magazines here have not exactly been raving about it either.

Qashqai gone mad!

At my work we have three people that recently bought a Qashqai. The waitinglist is long too. Actually its good car for the price you pay. Good value.

my vote goes to C class
and M3

Yeah in France it has a huge success too... To me it looks bad, with the big "teeths" in the grille and the wrong proportions. I don't get it.

BTW, there is a bit too much "Car of the Year" award, with a little luck every new cars can win it! As there are so much!

Same goes (at least in France) for the Book of the Year, you have the Femina, the Goncourt, etc...so at the end every new book has an award...

I don't understand why people are so obsessed with that oversized hatchback that rides on a raised platform. I consider the Qashqai totally useless. It's just my opinion.

Ι saw the Quasqai last month an actually i was surprised by the build quality and the overall design.

It's a trendy crossover and i can see why people like it. Considering that it's the same price with Golf or Mini i would take it over the other two cars.

On the other hand maybe i 'm prejudged cause we just took delivery of my wives new Nissan X-Trail 2 days ago. I will post pics soon (after washing it).

I can see the Mondeo winning the general while either the R8 or M3 takes the crown in performance category.

As for that Nissan, it looks pretty good inside. Exterior is acceptable I guess... the name has got to go. Sounds like a damn Pokemon