Winners announced in 2010 Car Design of the Year competition

The 2010 Car Design of the Year awards, which took place at the annual Car Design Night at La Sip nightclub in Geneva last night, recognized the winners of the best production and concept cars of 2010 as voted by Car Design News readers in an online poll. With over 1000 votes taken in over a three month period, the winners finally emerged as the Range Rover Evoque and the Pininfarina Duettottanta in the Best Production and Best Concept Car design categories, respectively.

Officially unveiled at the 2010 Paris motor show, the Range Rover Evoque represents the best translation from concept car to production vehicle we've seen in recent times. Faithful to the LRX concept created under the direction of Julian Thomson - in form though not nameplate - the Evoque's exceptional stance, dramatic proportions and crisp graphics that made it a clear winner from the outset.

"I am delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the Land Rover Design team," said Land Rover Design Director Gerry Mc Govern, accepting the award. "This is a particularly special accolade as it is represents recognition from peers in the industry."

With 35 percent of the vote, the Evoque beat competition from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta (18%) and the Audi A7 (15%) to take top honors by a considerable margin. Fourth and fifth place spots went to Kia for the Sportage and Optima, each acquiring 12 and 10 percent of the vote, respectively. According to our poll, the least favorite production car from our 10-strong shortlist was the Hyundai Elantra.

Pininfarina Chairman, Paolo Pininfarina, and members of the design team accepted the award for the Duettottanta unveiled at the 2010 Geneva motor show. With elegant proportions and sensuous, organic curves, the classic interpretation of the two seat roadster garnered 40 percent of the vote in the online poll placing it in the lead for the Best Concept Car design category.

"Winning the Car Design of the Year award makes us particularly proud because it represents the viewpoint of car design experts, who include the Chief Designers of the most important international companies," Mr. Pininfarina said. "Our design team has earned this prize with the great passion it has put into a particularly ambitious project."

The concept is significant for Pininfarina and its achievements as a company. The Duettottanta not only evoked the legendary 105-series Duetto in its name, but also marked the 80th anniversary years of the famed coachbuilder.

The Duettottanta battled it out with the Jaguar C-X75 concept for four weeks, each taking a turn in the lead, but at the close of the poll the Italian coachbuilder's vision for the future Alfa Spider came out ahead. The Jaguar finished in second place, gaining 26 percent of respondents' votes and the Renault Dezir came in third place with 15 percent of the vote. The Bertone Pandion came in fourth place, with 12 percent of the vote, while Kia again place in the top five with the Pop concept, which garnered 11 percent of the vote. The least favorite concept design of 2010 was deemed to be the Nissan Townpod.

The next Car Design Night will take place in Shanghai on April 19, on the eve of the first Auto China press day. Shanghai will also play host to the fourth Interior Motives China Conference (which will be held just prior to the auto show on 17-18 April), and the winners' announcement for Car Design News' second Car Design Awards, which celebrates the best of student design talent in China.

By CDN Team