The 2009 World Car of Nominees are out this year and there's a fair mix of cars.

henk will be happy to see his C5 listed, UCP and evo's COTY the GT-R is also up for the award, Ferrer's favourite city car the iQ also makes it, along with everyone's favourite the 500 (didn't that win something like this last year?) the A4, the 7-series, the Fit / Jazz, the Atenza / 6, the Golf, and the XF. I dunno exactly who is in the judging committee, the below press release says it's made up of a "volunteer jury of close to 50 distinguished automotive journalists representing many of the world's most renowned automotive outlets," whatever that means. I dunno exactly how prestigious or important this jury is but it has some pertinent cars for the UCP community so I thought mentioning it would be key. The winner will be announced at the New York International Auto Show.

World Car of the Year Announces Top Ten Finalists

Celebrating its fifth annual awards program, the World Car of the Year, held in conjunction with the New York International Auto Show, is pleased to announce this year's top ten finalists.

The 2009 World Car finalists are:

Audi A4 / Avant
BMW 7 Series
Citroen C5 Sedan / C5 Tourer
Fiat 500
Ford Fiesta
Honda Fit / Jazz
Jaguar XF
Mazda Atenza / Mazda6
Nissan GT-R
Toyota iQ
Volkswagen Golf VI

Vehicles are selected and voted on by a volunteer jury of close to 50 distinguished automotive journalists representing many of the world's most renowned automotive outlets. All jurors hold significant stature with their own regions and countries, which include: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States.

The jurors' next step is narrowing the top ten field to the top three, which will be announced March 9. Today's top ten announcement includes 11 vehicles because two of the vehicles are tied for a spot.

The overall 2009 World Car of the Year as well as the winners of the World Performance Car, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year will be declared on April 9, 2009 during a press conference at the New York International Auto Show.

Visit wcoty.com | World Car of the Year Awards for more information on the 2009 World Car of the Year Awards. For Auto Show updates, go to New York International Auto Show.