Judging has been completed for the 2014 Women's World Car of the Year. Women motoring writers from 15 countries have voted for their favourite cars in six categories.
Family Car:
Audi A3 saloon
Sports Car:
Audi S3
Luxury Car:
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
SUV:
Honda Jazz (also known as) Honda Fit
Green Car:
Tesla Model S
Judges vote on ten different criteria which remain the same in each category. As expected, elements such as design and function, style and appeal, comfort, storage and drive quality were included. Other elements considered in the voting procedure (and ones that aren't always found in other car awards) include the 'wow' factor, sex appeal and value-for-money, all of which the judges felt to be important to women car buyers. The supreme winner is the car that wins its particular category and collects the most overall points.
The Auckland, New Zealand office of international accountancy firm Grant Thornton received, collated and analysed the secret ballot. Four of the categories produced the closest voting seen in the five-year history of Women's World Car of the Year. Paul McCormick, the Partner in charge of the process, said it was very interesting this year to see a common trend develop as votes were received.
“This year, with more cars and more judges, the trend towards higher scores in the luxury and green car categories was evident very early in the voting. It was no surprise that the top three cars were in these categories in the final standings. “
The Audi A3 saloon just nudged out the VW Golf Variant/Sportsvan for the Family Car award. The Audi S3 barely pipped the BMW M4 in the Sports Car category. The closest vote of all came in the SUV category with the Range Rover Sport inching slightly ahead of the Porsche Macan. The Budget Car and Green Car segments, however, produced clear winners.
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