World Car of the Year 2008 finalists

World Car of the Year finalists:

1. Ford Mondeo
2. Mazda 2/Mazda Demio
3. Mercedes-Benz C-Class

To be eligible for a World Car award, the contender had to be in production, and sold, on at least two continents during 2008. The winner of the overall World Car of the Year Award must excel in a broad range of attributes.

World Performance Car finalists:

1. Audi R8
2. Audi S5 coupe
3. BMW M3

The World Performance Car award must demonstrate "a specific and overt sports/performance orientation while satisfying the same availability criteria as for the overall World Car of the Year award."

The World Car of the Year is a non-profit program. Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of forty-seven (47) top-level automotive journalists from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States. The award itself has no affiliation with any auto show, publication, automaker or other commercial enterprise.