Car designs of the year named by Car Design News
Volvo S90 and Porsche Mission E awarded at special Geneva motor show event
Car Design News has announced this year’s Car Designs of the Year at a special awards ceremony in Geneva. The ceremony took place in the Swiss city on the evening of the first press day of the Geneva motor show, and saw representatives from Porsche on hand to collect the award for Concept Car Design of the Year for its Mission E; and from Volvo to pick up the Production Car of the Year trophy for the new S90.
Porsche interior desig director collects the award for the Mission E concept
The two awards were presented at Car Design Night Geneva, along with the announcement of Syd Mead as the latest recipient of our Lifetime Achievement Award. The event coincided with the launch of the latest edition of the Car Design Review, a yearbook published by CDN that wraps up the key developments in the car-design industry that have taken place in the year just gone.
Concept Car Design of the Year: Porsche Mission E
The Car Design of the Year award is unique, as the cars that win are voted for by an 18-strong judging panel made up of a truly global cross-section of professional car designers. This group includes design directors and senior management from Bentley, Daimler, Ferrari, GM, Kia and McLaren among others.
The awards are completely independent and the cars and designers lauded are voted for by their design peers. Judges name their top three concept cars and top three production cars from 20 contenders and then the votes are counted and the Concept Car Design of the Year and Production Car Design of the Year are decided.
Production Car Design of the Year: Volvo S90
“After the first batches of votes came in, it became clear the Porsche Mission E would be a front-runner for 2015 Concept Car Design of the Year,” said Car Design Review editor Guy Bird. “Judge after judge praised the four-seat EV concept’s clarity and simplicity of design and by the end of the voting the Mission E was a clear winner.”
“The Production Car Design of the Year was a close-fought contest, so close in fact that the result wasn’t decided until the final judging form came in,” Owen Ready, editor of Car Design News, added. “However, the way that the design of the Volvo S90 blends classic proportions and very well resolved new technology makes it deserving of the win this year.”
The awards were announced at Car Design Night Geneva, which is also organised by Car Design News. The next of these networking events for professional designers will take place during the Beijing motor show in April.