At a press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show, Bridgestone Corporation, and BASF SE at the Jacob Javits Centre in Manhattan, New York, the Audi R8 V10 was declared the 2010 World Performance Car.
The Audi R8 V10 was chosen from an initial entry list of sixteen (16) entries nominated by fifty-nine (59) World Car jurors from twenty-five (25) countries throughout the world.
While the winner of the overall World Car of the Year award must excel in a broad range of attributes, there is a segment of the car-buying public for whom performance – in its broadest sense – overrides all other priorities. Candidates for the World Performance Car award must demonstrate a specific and overt Sports/Performance orientation. They must also satisfy the same availability criteria as for the overall World Car award and may be chosen from that list of eligible vehicles.
Additional entrants may include 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 five-hundred (500) vehicles.
The jurors voted in January 2010 to establish a top ten shortlist. A second round of voting occurred in February when jurors were asked to score the top ten candidates based on merit, value, safety, environment, significance and emotional appeal. The World Performance was chosen from those top ten finalists as tabulated by the international accounting firm KPMG.
The World Car Awards jurors observed that, “In the opinion of many a judge on the World Car Awards jury, Audi has at long last satisfied our hunger for a street car that lives up to the excitement of the original Le Mans series-dominating R8 LMP1 car that changed the endurance racing game starting in the 2000 season. This civilian trim über R8 shares the 5.2-liter engine and chassis of the more powerful and lighter Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, so that we all really liked driving it this year should come as little surprise. With 525 metric horsepower and a big exhaust note, this Audi has been clocked to a 60-mph acceleration time of just 3.4 seconds by several publications worldwide. Almost as impressive as the minimum $150,000 those fortunate enough get to pay for one.”
The top three contenders for 2010 World Performance Car title were, in alphabetical order, the Audi R8 10, the Ferrari California and the Porsche 911 GT3.
“”We’re honored that the Audi R8 V10 was chosen by this distinguished group of jurors as the 2010 World Performance Car,” said Johan De Nysschen, Executive Vice President of Audi of America. “This is the fifth year of the World Performance Car award and the R8 has won it twice. Whether you choose an R8 with a V8 or with a V10 engine, you get a World Performance Car award winner. The records also show that an Audi has won this award three times. The truly global nature of the World Car jury is evidence that Audi is hitting the performance car sweet spot of car lovers around the world.”
Previous World Performance Car winners were the Nissan GT-R in 2009, the Audi R8 in 2008, the Audi RS4 in 2007 and the Porsche Cayman S in 2006.
Prime Research International, a global leader in strategic communication research and consultancy, has joined forces with the World Car Awards to form a unique research partnership that will provide strategic reports in 2010, analyzing global automotive media coverage.
Now in their seventh year, the annual World Car awards have become one of the world’s most prestigious, credible and significant programs of its kind.
The awards were inaugurated in 2003, and officially launched in January 2004, to reflect the reality of the global marketplace, as well as to recognize and reward automotive excellence on an international scale. The awards are intended to complement, not compete, with existing national and regional Car of the Year programs.