World Car Awards winners revealed

The Jaguar I-Pace wasn’t the only winner at this year’s World Car Awards. Alongside the top award were honours for top performance, urban and luxury vehicles.

720S snags world performance car

A McLaren has scooped the prestigious 2019 performance car award at this year’s World Car Awards after beating off fierce competition from five contenders.

The 720S was chosen from an initial entry list of six cars worldwide before a short list of three was announced in Geneva in March. The other two finalists were Aston Martin’s Vantage and Mercedes-Benz’s AMG four-door coupe.

Mike Flewitt, chief executive officer of McLaren Automotive, says: “We believe the 720S is a revolutionary step forward for McLaren and the supercar segment. To have it recognised in this way by an organisation made up of the most esteemed media across the globe is a great honour.”

To be eligible for world performance car, vehicles must be produced in volumes of at least 2,000 units per year, must be “overtly performance in nature” and available for sale on at least two continents between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019.

World urban car award goes to the Jimny

The Jimny has driven away with 2019’s world urban car gong. A Suzuki car has been in the top three in this category for three consecutive years. This year, the Jimny was also a finalist in the car-design class.

Toshihiro Suzuki, president of Suzuki, says: “The Jimny is the one-and-only compact, authentic off-roader. We’ve kept true to this concept for almost 50 years. It now has many fans around the world. We accept this award with pride and confidence in our passion to build exciting cars.”

The world urban car award was introduced in 2017 because it’s an award whose time has come, says Mike Rutherford, co-chairman of the World Car Awards.

“Everyday cars in many – perhaps most – parts of the world will have to become smaller if road and parking space is to be found for them in towns and cities whose populations are swelling.”

Audi A7 named world luxury car

The World Car Awards jury, consisting of 86 members from 24 countries, voted for Audi’s A7 Sportback as the best new luxury car for the marque’s the 10th victory across all awards categories. It was also the second consecutive luxury-class win for Audi after its A8 took out this title last year.

“We are very proud of this award because it shows our ability to develop leading premium cars in various segments,” says Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler, member of the board of management for technical development at Audi.

The A7 was up against the Audi Q8 and BMW’s 8 Series in the final shortlist of three.