The jury of 66 motoring journalists from 23 countries named the new Volkswagen Golf and the Tesla Model S the 2013 World Car and World Green Car of the Year.
The Tesla Model S won 2013 World Green Car at the New York Auto Show, besting the Renault Zoe and the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid.
Due to the complexity of some of the ‘green’ technologies, five green experts were appointed by the World Car Steering Committee to extensively review all documentation and specs associated with each candidate. They then create a short-list of finalists for review by the sixty-six (66) jurors in their second round of voting in February.
This is just the latest win for the Model S. The all-electric sedan was named “Car of the Year” by both Automobile and Motor Trend in 2012 and even Time Magazine called it of the 25 Best Inventions of the year.
It was only three weeks ago that the new Volkswagen Golf was crowned European Car of the Year. Further accolades from home and abroad, such as ‘The Best Cars of 2013’, ‘Auto Trophy 2012’ and the ‘Top Gear – All the car you’ll ever need’ award, round off the list of successes.
The all-new Volkswagen Golf was chosen from an initial entry list of 42 new vehicles from all over the world, then a short list of ten, then the top contenders: Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Porsche Boxster/Cayman and the combined entry Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86.
Volkswagen has for a long time been a firm fixture in the ‘World Car of the Year’ awards: the model before the current Golf for instance, won the renowned prize back in 2009. Previous World Car of the Year winners were the Volkswagen Up! in 2012, the Nissan LEAF in 2011, the Volkswagen Polo in 2010, the Volkswagen Golf in 2009, the Mazda2/Mazda Demio in 2008, the Lexus LS460 in 2007, the BMW 3-Series in 2006, and the Audi A6 in 2005.