2021 CAR DESIGN AWARDS GO TO CANOO, LAND ROVER AND PEUGEOT

Winners of the 2021 Car Design Award, the Oscar of world car design established in 1984 by Auto&Design magazine, are the design teams from Canoo for the EV pickup, Land Rover for the Defender 90 and Peugeot for its brand design language.

The award ceremony was held digitally at the Mauto – Turin’s National Automobile Museum – and was broadcast on the Car Design Award YouTube channel, offering audiences around the world the opportunity to watch the event. The winners’ trophies were made by Brembo, a partner of the initiative since the award was revived in the 2000s.

Massimo Frascella, Land Rover Design Director

Here are the winners of the 2021 edition, chosen from a shortlist of ten finalists:

  • in the Concept Cars section, the Canoo design team for its EV Pick-up project; in second place the Renault design team for the Renault 5 Prototype; in third place the Genesis team for its X Concept.
  • for Production Cars, the best design award went to Land Rover design for its Defender 90; second and third places went to the designers of the Cupra Formentor and Audi e-tron GT respectively.
  • for the Brand Design Language section, i.e. the design language of the whole brand, the award went to the Peugeot team; with the Ferrari and Genesis design teams in second and third places respectively.
Richard Kim, Canoo Chief Design Officer

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: Silvia Baruffaldi (Auto&Design, Italy), Luca Ciferri (Automotive News Europe, EU), Juan Carlos Payo Calderon (Autopista, Spain), Wes Raynal (Autoweek, USA), Dhruv Behl (AutoX, India), Tetsuya Kato (Car Graphic, Japan), Stéphane Meunier (L’Automobile Magazine, France), Jun Miao (MJ CarShow, China), Paulo Campo Grande (Quatro Rodas, Brazil), Michael Köckritz (Ramp, Germany), Kibeom Kim (Roadtest, Korea), Charlie Turner (Former Top Gear Editor in Chief, UK).

Matthias Hossann, Peugeot Design Direcotr

WINNERS OF THE MOST RECENT CAR DESIGN AWARDS

YearConcept CarsProduction CarsBrand Design Language
2016Mazda RX-VisionAston Martin DB11Volvo Cars
2017Jaguar I-PaceFord GTLand Rover
2018Honda Urban EVJaguar E-PaceVolvo Cars
2019Alfa Romeo TonalePeugeot 208Citroën
2020Hyundai ProphecyFerrari RomaPorsche

To get the photos in high resolution, please click here: https://bit.ly/3FYqv16CDA2021HighResPhotos

CAR DESIGN AWARD 2021, SEE YOU ON NOVEMBER 30

Everything is ready for the Car Design Award 2021 winners announcement. The award ceremony will be broadcast on November 30 at 4 pm (CET) from the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Turin on the Car Design Award YouTube channel.

The Car Design Award is divided into three categories: two historic, “Concept Cars” and “Production Cars” and, since 2016, a third, “Brand Design Language”, assigned to the design team that has stood out for the consistency and transversality of its brand’s formal language over the whole product range. The winners are decided by a jury of experts in the form of journalists from the most prestigious international car magazines, so guaranteeing an objective judgment on the world car design scene

Discover here the finalist projects of the 2021 edition, follow us on our social pages and subscribe to our YouTube channel to discover the winners of the Car Design Award 2021.

2021 AWARD EDITION FINALISTS

Everything is ready for the Car Design Award 2021, the international accolade that has been awarded since the 1980s – and since 2016 in its current incarnation – to the design teams that have created the best production and concept car projects, as well as the best brand design language. After the first round of voting of the Car Design Award jurors, we are pleased to announce the finalist projects competing in the award’s three categories: Production Cars, Concept Cars and Best Brand Design Language:

Production Cars:

Audi e-tron GT

Cadillac Lyriq

Cupra Formentor

Ford Bronco

Gordon Murray Design T.50

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Kia EV6

Land Rover Defender 90

Maserati MC20

Peugeot 308

Concept Cars:

Canoo Pick-up EV

Dacia Bigster

Genesis X Concept

Honda Suv e:concept

Lexus LF-Z Electrified

Nissan Z Proto

Renault 5 Prototype

Steyr Konzept

Toyota Aygo X Prologue

Voyah i-LAND

Brand Design Language:

Ferrari

Genesis

Hyundai

Kia

Peugeot

 

As required by the Rulebook, the jurors selected 10 production car projects and 10 concept car projects unveiled between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, plus 5 brands that have stood out for the formal language of their entire product range. The design teams winners of the 2021 Car Design Award will be proclaimed in October (the exact day of the price giving ceremony will be announced soon).

CAR DESIGN AWARD 2020: WATCH THE CEREMONY

2020 CAR DESIGN AWARDS ASSIGNED TO HYUNDAI, FERRARI AND PORSCHE

The design teams of Hyundai for the Prophecy, Ferrari for the Roma and Porsche for the design language of its entire range were the winners of the Car Design Award 2020, the Oscar of world automotive styling established in 1984 on the initiative of Auto&Design.

Due to the international situation and the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the award ceremony took place digitally and was broadcast from Turin on the Car Design Award YouTube channel. An unprecedented milestone in the history of the award, but also an opportunity for audiences around the world to enjoy the event.

The Car Design Award is divided into three categories: two of them, “Concept Cars” and “Production Cars”, are historical and have been joined by a third, “Brand Design Language”, an award to the design team that has worked best to maintain the consistency and transversality of a brand’s formal language over the entire product range.

The winners of the 2020 edition are:

  • for the Concept Cars section, the Hyundai design team for the Prophecy project; in second place Bentley design for the EXP 100 GT; in third place the Seat-Cupra team for the Cupra Tavascan.
  • in the Production Cars section, the award for best project went to Ferrari design for the Roma; second and third place respectively to the authors of the Porsche Taycan and Land Rover Defender projects.
  • for the Brand Design Language section, the award was assigned to the Porsche team, followed by the Peugeot and Mazda design teams in second and third places respectively.

The winners were decided by a jury of experts in the form of journalists from the most prestigious international car magazines, so guaranteeing an objective judgment on the world car design scene.  “This is the first digital ceremony in the history of the Car Design Award – a recognition that, we would remind you, goes to the design team that created the project: thanks to the online format, we are able to connect from all over the world and congratulate the winning team by zooming directly into the design centre where the car or range of models that won the award took shape”, remarked Silvia Baruffaldi, Editor of Auto&Design and Chairman of the Jury.

To the winners went the trophies designed and created by Brembo, partner of the prize since its revival. “At Brembo we have a great passion for design. We want our products always to combine style and beauty with performance, quality and durability. Even under the most extreme usage conditions, such as racing. This year for the trophies we decided to use a portion of the carbon disc we supply to all the teams in the Formula E Championship”, explained Alberto Ferrari, Marketing Manager at Brembo.

Organised by Auto&Design magazine, the Car Design Award is assigned by an international jury consisting of representatives of some of the most prestigious automotive magazines from around the world: 

Silvia Baruffaldi (Auto&Design, Italy)

Tom Drechsler (AutoBild, Germany)

Todd Lassa (Automobile Magazine, USA)

Stéphane Meunier (L’Automobile Magazine, France)

Luca Ciferri (Automotive News Europe, EU)

Juan Carlos Payo Calderon (Autopista, Spain)

Dhruv Behl (AutoX, India)

Tetsuya Kato (Car Graphic, Japan)

Jun Miao (MJ CarShow, China)

Paulo Campo Grande (Quatro Rodas, Brazil)

Kibeom Kim (Roadtest, Korea)

Charlie Turner (Top Gear, UK)

CAR DESIGN AWARD 2020, JURY MOTIVATIONS

CONCEPT CARS, HYUNDAI PROPHECY

Hyundai says streamlined sedans of the 1920s and ‘30s inspired the Prophecy shape. “Nautical” inspiration came in the form of such details as the heat-extracting, propeller-style wheels. Rather than mimic a conventionally powered car, the Hyundai Prophecy has no grille between its pixel headlamps, and the pixel design repeats with taillamps that give the rear a sports car-like flourish.

PRODUCTION CARS, FERRARI ROMA

It would be a great understatement to say that the Ferrari Design team, led by Flavio Manzoni, have done an incredible job with the Roma, which takes the lines of a traditional grand tourer and catapults it into the 21st century with a shape that’s sensual, evocative and cutting edge in equal measure.

BRAND DESIGN LANGUAGE, PORSCHE DESIGN

Over the years Porsche has managed to evolve one of the most iconic designs in the history of cars. Today’s range combines its enviable heritage with technological innovation to create a highly contemporary and at the same time unmistakable image in luxury sports cars. Working in concert with engineering, the Porsche design team has also been able to adapt styling cues and proportions to the new architectures made possible by electrification.

WINNERS OF THE PAST EDITIONS

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 AWARD EDITION FINALISTS

Here are the finalists for the Car Design Award 2020. The award ceremony will take place on October 15th with a digital event. There are three prize categories: production cars, concept cars and best brand design language. The three shortlists have been prepared by the Car Design Award jury. As stated in the regulations, the first two categories consider projects for production cars and concept cars presented between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Production Cars:

Bmw 8 Series Gran Coupé

Corvette C8 Stingray

Fiat Nuova 500

Ferrari Roma

Ford Mustang Mach-E

Kia XCeed

Land Rover Defender

Lotus Evija

Mazda MX-30

Porsche Taycan

Concept Cars:

Bentley Exp 100 GT

Bmw Vision M Next

Cupra Tavascan

DS Aero Sport Lounge

GFG 2030

Hyundai Prophecy

Lexus LF-30 Electrified

Mercedes-Benz Vision Avtr

Polestar Precept

Suzuki Waku SPO

Brand Design Language:

Bentley

Mazda

Peugeot

Porsche

Škoda

VIDEO – COME & MEET THE 2019 WINNERS

2019 CAR DESIGN AWARDS ASSIGNED TO ALFA ROMEO, PEUGEOT E CITROËN


The design teams of Alfa Romeo for the Tonale concept, Peugeot for the 208 and Citroën for its product range design are the winners of the Car Design Award 2019, the new edition of the historical, coveted Oscar of world automotive design instituted in 1984 on the initiative of the magazine Auto & Design and its founder Fulvio Cinti.

The award ceremony took place in Turin on 19 June as part of the Parco Valentino Turin Motor Show, with the participation of Giorgetto Giugiaro, already winner of past editions, as Guest of Honor.

The Car Design Award was assigned for fourteen consecutive editions up to 1997. The award was then revived in 2016 in a completely renewed incarnation, faithful, however, to the spirit that had always characterised it: to reward the authors of projects that have made a significant contribution to the evolution of car design. Today as before, the winners are decided by a jury of experts representing the most prestigious world car magazines, thus ensuring an objective judgment on the world car design scene.

The Car Design Award is divided into three categories: two of them, “Concept Cars” and “Production Cars”, are historical and have been joined by a third, “Brand Design Language”, an award to the design team that has worked best to maintain the consistency and transversality of a brand’s formal language over the entire product range.

The winners of the 2019 edition are:

  • for the Concept Car section, the Alfa Romeo design team for its Tonale project;

second place to Peugeot design for the E-Legend, and third place to Citroën for the Ami One.

  • the award for best project in the Production Cars section goes to Peugeot design for the 208 (with second place going to the Mazda3 and third place to the Automobili Pininfarina Battista project).
  • taking away the prize in the Brand Design Language sectionis the Citroën team (followed by the Mercedes-Benz and Mazda design teams, respectively second and third).

“The response we get from the style centres every time we let them know, confidentially, that they have won the Car Design Award, is confirmation of how much it is coveted and is considered the oscar of automotive design worldwide”, said Silvia Baruffaldi, editor of Auto&Design and President of the Car Design Award Jury.

The winners received trophies specially designed and produced by Brembo, a partner of the prize since its revival. “For Brembo, one of the variables with the greatest impact is surely technology and how it has evolved over time, and this has allowed us to remain at the forefront. But over the years we have always been very attentive to styling aspects too, to the extent that our brakes have become a design object”, noted Alberto Ferrari, Brembo Marketing Manager at the award ceremony.

“The Car Design Award has become a traditional date on our calendar and we are delighted to have hosted this event that has resonated worldwide ever since its revival in 2016”, said Andrea Levy, President of the Show’s Organising Committee.

Organised by Auto&Design magazine, the Car Design Award is assigned by an international jury consisting of representatives of some of the most prestigious automotive magazines from around the world: 

Silvia Baruffaldi (Auto&Design, Italy)

Tom Drechsler (AutoBild, Germany)

Todd Lassa (Automobile Magazine, USA)

Stéphane Meunier (L’Automobile Magazine, France)

Luca Ciferri (Automotive News Europe, EU)

Juan Carlos Payo Calderon (Autopista, Spain)

Dhruv Behl (AutoX, India)

Tetsuya Kato (Car Graphic, Japan)

Jun Miao (MJ CarShow, China)

Zeca Chaves (Quatro Rodas, Brazil)

Kibeom Kim (Roadtest, Korea)

Charlie Turner (Top Gear, UK)

CAR DESIGN AWARD 2019, JURY MOTIVATIONS

CONCEPT CARS, ALFA ROMEO TONALE

“Rather than taking design clues from its mid-size Stelvio SUV, Alfa Romeo said the inspiration for the Tonale compact SUV came from the historic Giulia GT coupe. The Tonale offers sporty proportions but avoids the shortcut of a clearly descending roofline typical of many contemporary coupe-SUVs. The headlights reduced to a thin lightbar give a more prominent role to the Italian brand’s iconic Scudetto, in a design that is at once simple but injected with emotion and sportiness”.

PRODUCTION CARS, PEUGEOT 208

“With the 208, Peugeot demonstrated that design could play a crucial role in moving a mainstream small car upscale. While the exterior reinterprets the proportions of the legendary 205 GTI, the rear immediately reconnects with the contemporary 3008 SUV. Also astonishing is the interior, with components carried over from larger models, as well as the first 3D instrument panel in a production car.”.

BRAND DESIGN LANGUAGE, CITROËN DESIGN

“Citroën has evolved the quirky design language born with the C4 Cactus and its Air Bumps into a more palatable design philosophy, created to give the French brand a “cheer & cheerful” family feeling that now comprises the C3 small car, as well as the C3 and C5 Aircross crossovers. Citroën also brilliantly uses two-toned painting to have its range stand out from the crowd of other mainstream brands, going far beyond the simple connotation of the Double Chevron on the front end”.

WINNERS OF THE PAST EDITIONS

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
CDA 2018

VIDEO – COME & MEET THE 2018 WINNERS

Watch the video of the event and our exclusive interviews with the designers.

 

 

CAR DESIGN AWARD 2018 WINNERS

The design teams of Honda for the Urban EV Concept, Jaguar for the E-Pace and Volvo Cars for its product range design are the winners of the Car Design Award 2018, the new edition of the historical, coveted Oscar of world automotive design instituted in 1984 on the initiative of the magazine Auto & Design and its founder Fulvio Cinti.

The award ceremony took place in Turin on 6 June as part of the Parco Valentino Turin Motor Show.

“The Car Design Award has become a traditional date on our calendar and we are delighted to have hosted this event that has resonated worldwide ever since its revival in 2016”, said Andrea Levy, President of the Show’s Organising Committee.

The Car Design Award was assigned for fourteen consecutive editions up to 1997. The award was then revived in 2016 in a completely renewed incarnation, faithful, however, to the spirit that had always characterised it: to reward the authors of projects that have made a significant contribution to the evolution of car design. Today as before, the winners are decided by a jury of experts representing the most prestigious world car magazines, thus ensuring an objective judgment on the world car design scene.

The Car Design Award is divided into three categories: two of them, “Concept Cars” and “Production Cars”, are historical and have been joined by a third, “Brand Design Language”, an award to the design team that has worked best to maintain the consistency and transversality of a brand’s formal language over the entire product range.

The winners of the 2018 edition are:

  • for the Concept Car section, the Honda design team for its Urban EV project;

second place ex-aequo goes to Genesis design for the Essentia and Mazda for the Vision Coupé, and third place to BMW for the M8 Gran Coupé.

  • the award for best project in the Production Cars section goes to Jaguar design for the E-Pace (with second place going to Aston Martin for the Vantage and third place to Volvo design for authoring the Polestar 1).
  • taking away the prize in the Brand Design Language section is the Volvo Cars team (followed by the Jaguar and Mazda design teams, respectively second and third).

 

The guest of honour at this year’s ceremony was Chris Bangle, a designer who has always been known for his compelling visions that often swim strongly against the stream.  “Awards that acknowledge the truly important contributions of design – and the design team that created it – are to be celebrated.”, he recalled in his speech. “But for a designer the real reward is the honor to have been chosen by that idea to ‘bring it into being’.”  Bangle is also a past winner of the Car Design Award for his work on the Opel Junior concept car, a project that won the award in 1984 when Bangle was a young interior designer at Opel.

“This year’s edition confirms the work done by the Jaguar and Volvo Cars teams, who have already been among the winners in recent editions. For Honda design, on the other hand, the link with the Car Design Award goes back to the historic first edition in 1984, when the trophy for volume production projects was presented in Turin to the authors of the Civic,” said Silvia Baruffaldi, editor of Auto&Design and President of the Car Design Award Jury.

The winners received trophies specially designed and produced by Brembo, a partner of the prize since its revival. “The combination of Brembo and design has lasted for more than 25 years, when we were the first to introduce a coloured brake caliper. Since then, design has become a hallmark feature of our products, continuing even today to be one of the characteristics that differentiates us on the market, where it is recognised as added value”, noted Alberto Ferrari, Brembo Marketing Manager at the award ceremony.

 

CAR DESIGN AWARD 2018,  JURY MOTIVATIONS

CONCEPT CARS, HONDA URBAN EV

“The Honda Urban EV is a wonderfully judged piece of design which brings a much needed sense of personality to the EV space. Its clever blending of both retro and futuristic aesthetics gives it an undeniable desirability that few can compete with”.

PRODUCTION CARS, JAGUAR E-PACE

“The E-Pace borrows the winning styling clues from its larger brother F-Pace, yet without being a baby F-Pace. Jaguar’s smallest SUV has its own, strong character aiming to attract metropolitan young buyers and comes in as pop music in the car world”.

BRAND DESIGN LANGUAGE, VOLVO CARS DESIGN

“From boxy station wagons designed first for passive safety to a full range of cars and SUVs that blend Scandinavian design with complex lighting solutions, as well as state-of-the-art man machine interface, the journey to a new, fresher and more compelling Volvo design language was successfully completed”.

 

2018 CAR DESIGN AWARD – THE JURY

Organised by Auto&Design magazine, the Car Design Award is assigned by an international jury consisting of representatives of some of the most prestigious automotive magazines from around the world:

Silvia Baruffaldi (Auto&Design, Italy)

Tom Drechsler (AutoBild, Germany)

Todd Lassa (Automobile Magazine, USA)

Stéphane Meunier (L’Automobile Magazine, France)

Luca Ciferri (Automotive News Europe, EU)

Juan Carlos Payo Calderon (Autopista, Spain)

Dhruv Behl (AutoX, India)

Tetsuya Kato (Car Graphic, Japan)

Jun Miao (MJ CarShow, China)

Zeca Chaves (Quatro Rodas, Brazil)

Kibeom Kim (Roadtest, Korea)

Charlie Turner (Top Gear, UK)

 

WINNERS OF THE PAST EDITIONS

Concept Cars Production Cars Brand Design Language
Mazda RX-Vision Aston Martin DB11 Volvo Cars
Jaguar I-Pace Concept Ford GT Land Rover

 

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