Kia and BMW claim 2012 Red Dot Design Awards

Kia and BMW have been recognized by the 2012 Red Dot Design Awards judging panel, picking up the ‘best-of-best' awards in the transportation product design category.

The awards, handed out March 15, single out the best-designed products from over 4,000 entries across a variety of categories.

Kia's A-segment Picanto and B-segment Rio were both winners in Red Dot's ‘Product Design' category, fighting off competition from over 4,500 products entered by 1,800 manufacturers from 58 countries.

Since 2009 Kia has now won six of the Red Dot awards after the Soul won in 2009 and the Venga in 2010. In last year's competition both the Kia Sportage and the Optima claimed the top spots, with the Optima also named ‘best of the best', the highest accolade for ground-breaking design.

BMW took the award for its 5 Series Touring. The judging panel's decision came from its view that: "You can almost feel the sporting elegance and dynamics of the 5 Series Touring. Its flowing line movement has been echoed in the interior, extending into the design of the instrument panel and the doors. The ergonomic concept of the user controls is tailored optimally to the driver."

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG coupe and R-Class, Peugeot's RCZ coupe, Maserati's Quattroporte and the Volkswagen Passat CC have all been previously recognized in the transportation product design category.

The awards will be presented to winners at a gala event at the Alvar Aalto-designed opera house in Essen, Germany, on July 2 2012.

For a list of Red Dot Awards winners in the transport product design category visit the Red Dot Design Awards website.

By Rufus Thompson