It was a great success! 48 international journalists from 18 different countries spent the week in Pasadena, California test-driving 38 cars that are contenders in six categories for the 2019 World Car Awards.
The 5th annual “L.A. Test Drives” is a stop on the The Road to the World Car Awards journey that began in Paris on October 2nd. The journey follows our 86 international journalists that make-up the jury panel as they test-drive and vote on the “Top Three in the World” finalists as well as the overall winners.
The journey ends at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday, April 17th, 2019 when the winners are declared during an awards ceremony that officially opens the show.
The “L.A. Test Drives” were hosted by ZF who gave our journalists a glimpse into the future of the automobile from a supplier’s perspective including the electrification of everything: from bikes and cars to trucks and buses.
The L.A. Test Drives event enables international jurors to evaluate cars that may not be available in their local market, and for everyone to test those cars on a perfect testbed of American roads. Through the course of a 60 minute loop, each car was subjected to both urban and rural roads, a stretch of multilane interstate and a section of the epic and iconic Angeles Crest Highway. This twisty and mountainous series of switchbacks and challenging turns is a real test for even the best handling cars.
This combination of scenarios makes Pasadena an ideal spot for testing these cars, and the beautiful views from the Angeles Crest Highway also make for some incredible photo opportunities.
And next stop? Geneva: where the World Car Awards will announce the “Top Three in the World” finalists as well as the 2019 World Car Person of the Year on Tuesday, March 5, 2019.
Of course, The Road To World Car doesn’t really stop. Just a few weeks after the New York show’s grande finale, the World Car Garage will be staged for the fourth year at the London Motor Show in May of 2019; offering a glimpse of the 2020 contenders as well as celebrating the 2019 winners.
The World Car Awards is the number one awards program of its type globally for the sixth consecutive year as reported in Prime Research’s independent media report released earlier this year
World Car Awards
Now entering their 15th year, the annual World Car Awards are the number one awards program in the world for the sixth consecutive year based on Prime Research’s 2018 media report. 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.
The awards are administered by a not-for-profit association, under the guidance of an awards management group and steering committee of pre-eminent automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America. Peter Lyon (Co-chair, World Car Awards Program – Japan), Mike Rutherford (Co-chair, World Car Awards Program – UK), Jens Meiners (Partnership director – Germany), Tim Stevens (director – USA), Siddharth Vinayak Patankar (director – India) and Gerry Malloy (president, WCOTY Association).
