The prestigious World Car Awards just announced its 2017 award nominees, and the new 2018 BMW 5 Series Sedan, the BMW i3, and the BMW 740e iPerformance made the cut. Due in to U.S. dealerships this month, the all-new G30 5 Series received its world premiere less than a month ago at the North American International Auto Show. Although the original i3 came out a few years ago, BMW released an updated version in 2016 with a more powerful 94 aH battery and longer range. The BMW 740e iPerformance is a luxury plug-in hybrid based on the same 7 Series that won last year's World Luxury Car award.
In past years, there were five World Car categories: World Car of the Year, World Green Car, World Performance Car, World Luxury Car, and World Car Design. New for 2017 is an additional category, World Urban Car, and this is the category in which the BMW i3 has been nominated.
To be eligible for a World Car Award, a car must be new in 2017 and available for sale in five or more nations on at least two continents, and must be selected by a panel of 73 international automotive journalists from 22 countries. The three finalists in each category will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March, The top honors will be revealed in April at the New York Auto Show.
The new BMW 5 Series is in the luxury class, and if it is selected, will join its slightly older and bigger sibling, the BMW 7 Series, which took that category's award last year. In 2015, the BMW i8 was chosen as World Green car and in 2014, the World Green Car was none other than the BMW i3, so BMW's electric vehicle could conceivably win its second World Car Award in a different category.
Competition for the i3 will be stiff in the World Urban Car class. The other nominees include the Smart Cabriolet, Smart Brabus, Citroen E-Mehari, Citroen C3, Ford Ka+, Suzuki Baleno, and Suzuki Ignis.
Nominees for the luxury category will make this one hard to win as well. Besides the BMW 5 Series, the nominees include the Bentley Bentayga, Genesis G90, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Volvo S90/V90, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XT5, Lincoln Continental, and Range Rover Evoque Convertible.
In the World Green Car category, the following nominees join the BMW 740e iPerformance: the Tesla Model X, Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Chevrolet Bolt, Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI quattro, Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e, Honda Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle, Toyota Prius Prime, Hyundai Ioniq, Citroen E-Mehari, Kia Niro Hybrid, and Toyota RAV4.
With three cars in the mix, BMW is well represented. We'll know in April if the company adds to its six previous World Car Awards.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
