British car maker Jaguar's first SUV, the F-Pace has been awarded as 2017 World Car of the Year at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday. This is the first time an SUV has won the award in 13-year history of the awards. The F-Pace grabbed the World Car Design of the Year award too.
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The performance SUV is the fastest selling model of Jaguar and it is the second vehicle to claim double awards in the history of the World Car Awards. Interestingly all three finalists for the world car title were SUVs. Jaguar SUV beat the Audi Q5 and Volkswagen Tiguan in the final round. The Porsche Boxster/Cayman won World Performance Car award, Mercedes-Benz E-Class won World Luxury Car, and the Toyota Prius Prime secured World Green Car award. In a new award category, the BMW i3 won World Urban Car of the Year.
"Jaguar has done the unthinkable by first securing the World Car Design of the Year award, then lifting the big one - the overall World Car of the Year trophy," said Mike Rutherford, juror, director and vice-chairman of the World Car Awards/World Car of the Year. The World Car Awards jury comprises influential 75 influential motoring journalists from 24 countries.
Last year, The F-Pace had also won Women's World Car of the Year (WWCOTY) 2016. WWCOTY is the only car award voted for entirely by women.
Jaguar India launched the F-Pace at the price range of Rs 68.40 lakh to Rs 1.12 crore on October 21. Offered in Pure, Prestige, R-Sport and First Edition, the F-Pace is brought to India as completely Built Unit (CBU). Pure and Prestige variants of the F-Pace are powered by a 2.0-litre diesel engine from the Ingenium family while R-Sport and the First Edition are powered by a six-cylinder 3.0-litre diesel engine.