Jaguar F-Pace named 2017 World Car of the Year

The Jaguar F-Pace has been crowned the 2017 World Car of the Year at a ceremony held at the ongoing New York Motor Show. It's a double victory for Jaguar as, apart from the top honour, the F-Pace has also been declared the winner of the World Car Design of the Year.

The F-Pace came out on top among 23 new cars, including the two other finalists, the second-generation Q5 and Volkswagen Tiguan. Interestingly, all the finalists were SUVs, which is an indication of the growing popularity of such vehicles and the increasing importance given to them by manufacturers.

Accepting the award, Dr Ralf Speth, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, said, "Winning these two awards endorses the talent and great work of our teams that have delivered the world’s most practical sports car and Jaguar's fastest-selling vehicle.”

The World Car of the Year was chosen by a jury consisting of 75 automobile journalists from 23 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.

Previous winners of the top award include the Mazda MX-5 (2016), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (2015), the Audi A3 (2014), the Volkswagen Golf (2013), the Volkswagen Up! (2012), the Nissan Leaf (2011), the Volkswagen Polo (2010, the Volkswagen Golf (2009), the Mazda2 / Mazda Demio (2008), the Lexus LS460 (2007), the BMW 3-Series (2006), and the Audi A6 (2005).

In other World Car of the Year category awards announced today, the Mercedes-Benz E-class beat the BMW 5-series and the Volvo S90 / V90 to win the 2017 World Luxury Car.

The Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman won the World Performance Car 2017 award, beating the Audi R8 Spyder and the McLaren 570S. The Toyota Prius Prime bagged the World Green Car award,  taking out the Chevrolet Bolt and the Tesla Model X. The BMW i3 (94Ah) took home the World Urban Car award beating the Citroën C3 and the Suzuki Ignis.

The 2017 World Car awards contest began in Paris on September 29, was followed by test-drives in Los Angeles in November, continued in Geneva with the Top three finalists announcement, and finally ended today with the declaration of the winners in six categories at the New York International Auto Show.