2024 CAR DESIGN AWARDS GO TO BMW, VOLVO AND KIA
The design teams of BMW for the Vision Neue Klasse concept car, of Volvo for the EX30 and Kia for its Brand Design Language are the winners of the 2024 Car Design Award, the Oscar of world car design established in 1984 by the Auto&Design magazine. The award ceremony was held in Milan at the renowned ADI Design Museum today, April 17th, during the Milano Design Week. The event was opened by an exclusive “Living in the car” Talk with Rossella Guasco, Vice President C&M Design Stellantis Europe, Francesca Sangalli, Head of Color&Trim and Concept&Strategy Seat Cupra, Stefano Piontini, Partner at Vudafieri Saverino Partners Shanghai and Carlo Ammirati, Sustainability Director & Innovation Manager Alcantara. Since 2016, the Car Design Award includes three categories: “Concept Cars”, “Production Cars” and “Brand Design Language”, the latter an award given to the design team that has stood out for the consistency and transversality of its brand’s formal language across its whole product range.
The winners of the 2024 edition, chosen from a shortlist of ten finalists, are:
- in the Concept Cars category, the BMW design team for the Vision Neue Klasse project
- in second place the Mazda design team for the Iconic SP
- in third place the Mercedes-Benz team for the Vision One-Eleven
- for Production Cars, the Volvo Design for its EX30
- in second place the team of Alfa Romeo design for the 33 Stradale
- on the third step of the podium, the Lamborghini team for the Revuelto
- for the Brand Design Language section, the design language of the whole brand, the award went to the Kia design team
- the Toyota and BMW design teams finished second and third respectively
The 2024 edition of the award is all new and sees Alcantara as a partner of the event. New trophies have also been created for the occasion, the exclusive design of which is the work of ERRE Company, operating in the field of engineering consultancy applied to the automotive, railway and industrial sectors.
THE JURY
The winners were chosen by a jury of experts, all journalists from leading international automotive publications, for an objective assessment of the global car design scene:
Brazil: Paulo Campo Grande, Quatro Rodas, Editor
China: Jun Miao, MJ CarShow, Chief Editor
South Korea: Kibeom Kim, Roadtest, Publisher & Editor in Chief
Europe: Luca Ciferri, Automotive News Europe, Editor & Associate Publisher
France: Stéphane Meunier, L’Automobile Magazine, Editor in Chief
Germany: Michael Köckritz, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director Ramp.Space
Japan: Tetsuya Kato, Car Graphic, Publisher
India: Dhruv Behl, AutoX, Founder & Managing Editor
Italy: Silvia Baruffaldi, Auto&Design, Editor
United Kingdom: Andy Franklin, Top Gear, Creative Director
Spain: Juan Carlos Payo Calderon, Mobilitas Group, General Director
JURY MOTIVATIONS
CONCEPT CARS, BMW Vision Neue Klasse
“It’s never easy to reinvent a brand’s design language, nevertheless the BMW Vision Neue Klasse does exactly so by being thoroughly modern while maintaining the unmistakable style cues that constitute the heritage of the brand. In the increasingly homogeneous design of electric vehicles, a tribute to the past and a vision for the future.”
PRODUCTION CARS, Volvo EX30
“Small is truly beautiful at Volvo. The exterior of the EX30 is perfectly executed and the interior very roomy. A small SUV with a strong sense of luxury, featuring a typical Volvo design language, simple, environmentally friendly, practical, but also capable of bringing a refreshing feeling with its distinctive Scandinavian, yet unprecedented, design.”
BRAND DESIGN LANGUAGE, Kia
“With its Opposite United philosophy, Kia design has taken a non-conformist approach with the aim of inducing change, unafraid of taking risks. Unexpected at first sight, Kia’s new models brake the mould with long-established aesthetic parameters to introduce a totally new and modern formal language. A relentless innovation to establish a new identity.”
WINNERS OF THE MOST RECENT CAR DESIGN AWARDS
| Year | Concept Cars | Production Cars | Brand Design Language |
| 2016 | Mazda RX-Vision | Aston Martin DB11 | Volvo Cars |
| 2017 | Jaguar I-Pace | Ford GT | Land Rover |
| 2018 | Honda Urban EV | Jaguar E-Pace | Volvo Cars |
| 2019 | Alfa Romeo Tonale | Peugeot 208 | Citroën |
| 2020 | Hyundai Prophecy | Ferrari Roma | Porsche |
| 2021 | Canoo Pick-up EV | Land Rover Defender 90 | Peugeot |
| 2022 | Toyota Compact Cruiser EV | Ferrari 296 GTB | Polestar |
| 2023 | Genesis X Convertible | Ferrari Purosangue | Ferrari |
