Car Design of the Year Awards presented in Geneva 2006

Exactly a month after announcing the Saab Aero X and Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione as the 2006 Car Design of the Year winners, Car Design News presented these awards to the winning design teams at the Geneva Motor Show.

The award for 'Car Design of the Year 2006 - Production' went to the design team of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. Antonio Bravalle, CEO of Alfa Romeo, accepted the award together with Daniele Gaglione, exterior designer and Giovanni Pizzi, interior designer. "It was a big dream for me, this project." said Daniele. "We found inspiration in Alfa's history. There are two real ancestors: the 33 Stradale and the TZ Zagato. We tried to implement all the brand values and design style elements in it. They may be sometimes exaggerated yet always in balance. For sure, one of the main targets in creating this car was to introduce strong emotions with regard to use of materials and surfaces. There is lots of craftsmanship in the sheet metal."

'Car Design of the Year 2006 - Concept' was presented to Bryan Nesbitt, Executive Director, GM Europe and Anthony Lo, Head of Advanced Design, for the Saab Aero X concept, which made a second appearance at Geneva this year. When asked about what he considered were the key elements that made it succeed so convincingly, Lo said "It's really a combination of several factors. It's a valid concept, a concept that resonates with most designers. There is a risk one can go into a retro theme but here's there's no question it's clearly a Saab: the links to aircraft and Saab's heritage are easy to see yet there's nothing retro on this design at all. Also the interior with its references to Scandinavian glassware is just beautifully done"

The Car Design of the Year awards are significant because they reflect the view of car designers more than any other award. CDOTY this year was voted on by over a thousand Car Design News readers - more of whom are automotive designers than for any other media. From design directors to the young blood of the industry, these voters make the CDOTY awards very much for designers by designers.

With two major auto shows already having finished this year and many impressive designs debuting at both, and with the extensive coverage that followed our CDOTY announcement in February, we expect the 2007 CDOTY awards to be bigger than ever!

Related Stories:
CDN Design Awards announced
Design Review: Alfa 8C Competizione
Design Development: Saab Aero X concept

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