Top Ten 2006 World Car of the Year finalists

From an initial entry list of twenty-seven (27) eligible new vehicles, from all over the world, a short list of ten finalists for the inaugural World Car of the Year award was released today. A jury of 46 international automotive journalists selected the finalists by secret ballot, based on their experience with all the entrants. The jury's next step is to re-evaluate the "Top Ten" vehicles, in preparation for a final round of voting in March. The cars are: BMW 3-Series, Honda Civic, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Lexus IS, Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche Cayman S, Suzuki Swift, and Volkswagen Passat.

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I've got dibs on the Civic.

S class should win..no doubt..

3 series should win of course.

If you look at the list:

• BMW 3-Series
• Honda Civic
• Land Rover Range Rover Sport
• Lexus IS
• Mazda MX-5
• Mercedes-Benz M-Class
• Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• Porsche Cayman S
• Suzuki Swift
• Volkswagen Passat

... 50% of it is German! That's pretty kick @$$ !

I think the fugly Civic will take... but the 3er or the S-class might have a chance.

The A6 won the last one didnt it?

I'm not so sure about the candidates. The cars sold under the Civic nameplate differ quite a bit between different markets and as far as I know the Swift is not available in the U.S. at all. I wonder what the qualifications for nomination were.

Which car will win will depend altogether on how the points are given, who the journalists are and which type of magazines they represent. The winner could be almost any of those cars. If it's done the way European COTY works, my money's on the Passat.

I bet my money on 3 series. VW Passat is the outsider. I believe that S class is too expensive to win (if value/money is important for WCOTY committee).

Yeah I'd say the 3 series is a big contender as well. A bigger deal than 50% being German is 0% being American.