Chevrolet Cruze finalist for World Car of the Year, Camaro finalist for World Car Design of the Year

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The World Car Awards announced that Chevrolet Cruze is a finalist for the prestigious World Car of the Year Award, and the Camaro is a finalist for the World Car Design of the Year award. The winners will be announced at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 1.

The Cruze is one of 10 finalists for the World Car of the Year award, as selected by a jury of 59 international automotive journalists, based on their experience with each candidate as part of their professional work. The jury members constitute a balance of representation from Asia, Europe, North America, South America, as well as other parts of the world.

The jurors' next step is to re-evaluate the "top ten" cars, in preparation for a final round of voting in February. They will specifically rate each vehicle in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal, and significance.

"Being a finalist for the World Car of the Year confirms the momentum behind Cruze," says Jim Campbell, Chevrolet General Manager. "More than 125,000 customers in Asia and Europe have already chosen the all-new Cruze. That strong acceptance on the world stage makes us confident that Cruze will be successful here in the U.S. as well when it goes on sale in the third quarter of this year."

Cruze has already earned the top rating of five stars from the European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP). According to EuroNCAP, Cruze is the first passenger car to receive maximum scores in both the frontal offset collision test and side impact crash test since EuroNCAP began providing crash test ratings in 1997. Cruze also received best-in-class, five-star crash safety ratings in the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) testing in Australia, and the Chinese New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) testing in China.

The Chevrolet Camaro is one of four finalists for the World Car Design of the Year, as selected by a jury of five design experts from around the world. The 59 World Car Awards jurors will now vote on the expert's design recommendations.

“It’s rather humbling to be nominated for the best new design in the world,” says Tom Peters, design director GM performance cars. “The nomination is a tribute to the passion of many individuals who worked so hard to make the vision of the new Camaro come to life.”

According to Yahoo!, Camaro was the most-searched vehicle in 2009. Camaro has also received the Popular MechanicsAutomotive Excellence Award, and was named an All-Star by Automobile Magazine. Since its introduction in 2009, Camaro has outsold Mustang for seven straight months.