Announcing the annual World Car of the Year awards at the New York show is a fitting finale to the international auto show season that begins each fall with either the Paris or Frankfurt motor shows.

From an initial entry list of 51 new vehicles from all over the world, then a short list of ten finalists, the top three contenders for the overall 2009 World Car title were announced today. They are, in alphabetical order:

•	Ford Fiesta
•	Toyota iQ
•	Volkswagen Golf VI

To be eligible for the overall World Car award, the contender had to be in production, and sold, on at least two continents during 2008.

Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of 59 top-level automotive journalists from 25 countries around the world. Each juror was appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence. Each juror typically drives and evaluates new vehicles on a regular basis as part of their professional work.

Three additional winners for the World Performance Car, World Green Car award, and the World Car Design of the Year will also be announced at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 9, 2009.

The Top Three finalists for the 2009 World Performance Car award, presented by Mobil 1, are, in alphabetical order:

•	Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
•	Nissan GT-R
•	Porsche 911 Carrera

While the winner of the overall World Car award must excel in a broad range of attributes, the World Performance Car award must demonstrate a specific and overt sports/performance orientation while satisfying the same availability criteria as for the overall World Car of the Year award.

Entrants may be chosen from that list of eligible vehicles, or they may be newly introduced variants that satisfy the same criteria, but are derived from existing rather than brand-new models. In all cases, they must have a minimum annual production rate of 500 vehicles.