The 2012 World Car of the Year awards have been presented at the New York Auto Show to celebrate the efforts for a great year past.

Top honours went to the Volkswagen Up! which was declared the World Car of the Year, beating 34 other contenders as well as two finalists - the BMW 3 Series and Porsche 911 - to land the prestigious award.

The Porsche 911 took the crown for the World Performance Car of the Year, beating the likes of Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 and McLaren MP4-12C among some 19 entries.

On the other hand, the Mercedes S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY was named the World Green Car of the Year. Despite only averaging 5.7 litres/100km beating Ford Focus Electric and Peugeot 3008 Hybrid to the accolade.

Lastly, the Range Rover Evoque won World Car Design of the Year. As the only non-German champion, the crossover was praised for being stylish and "contemporary."