The finalists for the 2011 World Car of the Year have been announced, with the winner to be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on April 21st.

Two very diverse cars, at the opposite end on the car spectrum, lead the nominations with two each.

The electric Nissan Leaf is in contention with for the main World Car of the Year Award, alongside two German sedans, the Audi A8 and the BMW 5-Series.

The Leaf has already won the prestegious European Car of the Year, so it remains to be seen whether it can complete a double.

In addition, the Leaf is also nominated in the World Green Car of the Year award, with the Chevrolet Volt and BMW 320d EfficientDynamics. That promises to be quite a battle, with all three cars having very good credentials to win the award on their own merit.

The other car with a double nomination is the Ferrari 458 Italia, which is entered in the World Performance Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year categories.

In the Performance Car category, the 458 Italia is up against fellow supercar heavyweights like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and the Porsche 911 Turbo, while in the Design category, the Ferrari battles the likes of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Aston Martin Rapide.

To be honest, I personally feel that the World Car of the Year Awards are a bit dubious. Perhaps it's because the WCOTY is a relatively new award, having only been around since 2005, and thus lack the credibility of more established awards like the European or Japanese COTY, which have been running for decades.

The criteria for nomination also seems a bit vague and open, with the only requirement being that the car has to be sold in in at least five countries on two continents to be considered. This means a huge selection of cars sold around the world are eligible for contention. I mean, the Suzuki SX4(!) was nominated as a finalist once, believe it or not.

The result is that the nominations, and some winners, come across as a bit strange sometimes. Past winners have ranged from cars as diverse as the Lexus LS460 to the Mazda 2. This year's one isn't much better, with an electric car competing against two large German sedans. How fair is that?

It seems like the WCOTY is a primarily American-organised award, which sometimes result in an American bias in the nominations and winners. That's just my opinion though.

Nevertheless, whether you agree or not, it might be worthwhile to have a look at the finalists again, in pictures: