Mazda NA CEO Masahiro Moro and WCoTY organizer Peter Lyons with the MX-5 Miata.
For such a little car, the Mazda MX-5 Miata was the big winner at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday morning, collecting not only the trophy for World Car of the Year, but also being honored as the globe’s top automotive design.
The twin win came hours before the first formal unveiling of a special auto show unveiling of the Miata RF. The retractable fastback version of the two-seat roadster generated rave reviews when it was shown to a smaller group of journalists on Tuesday night.
“What a day for Mazda,” blurted out Masahiro Moro, who recently took over as CEO of Mazda’s North American operations. “This is a brand icon,” he declared, hoisting the hefty World Car of the Year trophy and inviting key members of the development team to join him on stage.
(Mazda drops big surprise – and top – with debut of Miata RF. To check it out, Click Here.)
The World Car of the Year is the latest and last of the major automotive awards programs. Like the North American Car and Truck of the Year program that delivers its verdict at the Detroit Auto Show, the World Car brings together an assortment of automotive journalists – in this case from all over the world. A key goal is to overcome the individual bias of classic awards handed out by a specific magazine, broadcast or online outlet, organizers explain.
The hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai took honors as the World Green Car of the Year.
The World Car jury is comprised of 73 journalists from Europe, Japan, North America, Asia and Australia. They face the daunting challenge of considering vehicles that may not be available in all those markets – or which are offered in different forms from one market to the other.
For the big award, the three finalists were clearly global vehicles, the Audi A4, the Mazda Miata, and the Mercedes-Benz GLC, and several jurors told TheDetroitBureau.com that it was a real toss-up trying to predict what the group would finally choose. The purity of the Miata’s execution, sticking closely to a formula carried on since the nameplate was launched more than a quarter century ago, clearly carried sway.
The Miata was in the unusual position of squaring off against another Mazda for the Design of the Year award, the other finalists including not only the new Jaguar XE but the new Mazda CX3.
(For complete coverage of the 2016 NY International Auto Show, Click Here.)
BMW's 7-Series clinched the World Luxury Car category against the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90.
In the World Green Car category, jurors had examples of three very different approaches to reducing fuel consumption and emissions: the second-generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in, the fourth-generation Toyota Prius hybrid, and the new Toyota Mirai hydrogen car. The fuel-cell-powered Mirai won’t up driving him with the trophy.
A year ago, German manufacturers pulled off a coupe, capturing every single award from the World Car jury. They weren’t nearly as dominant, though they did win in two categories this time.
Going up against the Honda Civic Type R and the Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe, Audi’s complete makeover of the R8 sports car won the favor of judges.
And in the World Luxury category, the newly redesigned BMW 7-Series overcame a challenge from two other European models, the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90. Though the sedan won, the list of finalists clearly signaled the way the industry is changing, the big BMW haven’t to fend off two luxury SUVs.
(Toyota primes up PHEV market with new Prius Prime.)