Audi, BMW and Nissan make the cut
The Audi A8, BMW 5 series, and Nissan LEAF are the three finalists for the 2011 World Car of the Year that we first mentioned last month. These finalists were announced at the Geneva Motor Show, with the winner to be announced at the New York International Auto Show next month. The LEAF is also a finalist for the 2011 World Green Car of the Year, along with the BMW 320d EfficientDynamics and the Chevrolet Volt.
You might be wondering why we mention these awards. Being longtime members of the automotive community, we can vouch for the authority of third party endorsements. In almost everything that we consume, as consumers, we look to those that we are familiar with to provide endorsements of products that we are considering. We ask our neighbors “How is the new sushi restaurant down the street?” We ask our friends and family, “How do you like your lawn care guy?” It is in our nature to listen to those that we know, rather than the sales consultant trying to sell us the new phone, or television, or vehicle. Sales consultants in many fields are not particularly highly regarded (some rightfully so). Rather than rely on their “pitch”, we look to others that we trust to provide valued information. These external validations provide weight and substance with which we can more ably make our decisions. We like the “North American Car of the Year“, “European Car of the Year” (of which the LEAF was the 2011 winner), and “World Car of the Year” awards because of the broad base of journalists making the choice and the independence from their publications in making their choices. Most journalists can’t drive nearly as well as they think they can, but they do get to drive a wide variety of vehicles on a daily basis for a living. Their perspective on current automotive technology is as finely honed as you will find.