The World Car Awards are one of the most prestigious accolades of the automotive industry. This year’ s winners were just announced at the New York international Auto show. CCTV’s Michelle Makori reports from New York.

Oscars of the Car World--New York International Auto Show

The World Car Awards are one of the most prestigious accolades of the automotive industry. This year' s winners were just announced at the New York international Auto show. CCTV's Michelle Makori reports from New York.

It’s considered the Oscars of the car world — Vehicles are selected and voted on by an international panel comprised of 69 automotive journalists from 22 countries making this a truly global accolade.

And the BMW i3 won TWO of this year’s five awards — claiming the clean energy and design awards.

Matt Davis, Chairman of the World Car Awards, says the BMW I 3 which is not the easiest to get agreement on because it is a very specific environmental design, a completely recyclable car, and the design is very particular.

BMW impressed the judges with it is “game – changing” use of carbon fiber materials for the i3 body. The fact the car is made in a sustainable facility and runs on an electric power train didn’t hurt its chances, either.

The big surprise at this year’s wards is the Porsche 911 GT 3, which drove off with the performance car of the year title despite problems with engine fires.

Calvin Kim, Product Experience Manager of Porsche, says, “our management team was very proactive in resolving that and coming to a quick conclusion to replace the engines I am glad to see that the world car panel factored in all that into their decision.”

The 911 GT3 is as ferocious as one would expect in the world’s top performance car. It can produce a max 470 horsepower and hit a top speed of 195 miles per hour after going from 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds.

“The GT 3 features rear wheel steering , Porsche’s famous double clutch transmission , the fastest shifting transmission , as well as the shift pattern on the car is reverse , just like a race car”, Calvin Kim says.

This year, the World Luxury Car award category was created for the first time acknowledging higher-priced premium models. Trumping the Bentley Flying Spur and Range Rover Sport , the Mercedes S Class

“It’s a completely new design , the new presence that it has on the road, the interior is basically like being in a really nice living room or business lounge, there is a perfumer, you can choose your perfume”, Matt Davis says.

Smelling the sweet scent of success the Audi A3, which won the coveted 2014 World Car of the Year Beating the Mazda 3 and BMW 4-Series, Beth Wykes, Product Manager of Audi of America, mentions, “we pushed the factory to make us a sedan with sporty, elegant and aggressive styling, and also that has the advanced technologies and luxury features that you would expect from an Audi in a smaller package.”

Helping the Audi clinch this accolade, it’s high tech features like Google earth and 4 G connectivity and connecting all the winners this year. The fact is, they are all from German car makers.