2020 WORLD CAR AWARDS
MAZDA3–2020 WORLD CAR DESIGN OF THE YEAR WINNER
TORONTO, Canada – Wednesday, April 8, 2020 – For Immediate Release
World Car Awards and our 86 jurors from around the world recognize the widespread impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and extend our condolences to all those affected. In deference to that impact, we are respectfully limiting the reveal of the 2020 World Car Awards winners to announcement via digital media.
The Road to the 2020 World Car Awards concluded today with the declaration of the MAZDA3 as the 2020 World Car Design of the Year.
“Before accepting this prize, Mazda Motor Corporation would like to express our sympathy for all of those affected by the novel coronavirus,” said Akira Marumoto, Representative Director, President and CEO, Mazda Motor Corporation. “We are truly honored to be able to receive the World Car Design of the Year award in this special year marking the 100th anniversary of Mazda’s foundation. We will continue providing our customers with unique products, designs, technologies and experiences.”
The World Car Design of the Year category, and the corresponding award, are meant to highlight new vehicles with innovation and style that push established boundaries. This year, the cars eligible for the 2020 World Car Design of the Year award encompassed all the contenders competing in the other five award categories.
A design panel consisting of seven highly respected world design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors. The design experts are in alpha order: Anne Asensio (France – Vice-President, Design – Dassault Systemes), Gernot Bracht (Germany – Pforzheim Design School), Ian Callum (United Kingdom – Director of Design, CALLUM), Patrick le Quément (France – Designer and President of the Strategy Committee – The Sustainable Design School), Tom Matano (USA – School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University in San Francisco), Gordon Murray (U.K. – Gordon Murray Design) and Shiro Nakamura (Japan – CEO, Shiro Nakamura Design Associates Inc.).
As announced on March 3rd, the 2020 Top Three in the World finalists for the design award are the Mazda3, the Peugeot 208 and the Porsche Taycan.
Vehicles were selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprising 86 prominent automotive journalists from 24 countries around the world. Each juror was appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence. The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots.
There were several stops along the road for the 2020 program, including one in Los Angeles in November for our sixth annual L.A. Test Drives event hosted by ZF.
Then, the World Car Finals were launched live in New Delhi, India from the Delhi auto show on February 5th when the Top 10 and Top Five finalists in five World Car Awards categories were announced.
The World Car Finals continued with the announcement of the Top Three in the World finalists on March 3, 2020.
The Road to the World Car Awards ends today with the announcement of the 2020 winners.
2020 marks the 15th year of the World Car Awards partnership with the New York International Auto Show. The show has been rescheduled until August 28 to September 6, 2020. The media preview days will take place on August 26th and 27th (credentials required). The World Car Awards will launch its 2021 program at this time instead of in Paris. The launch will include a preliminary list of eligible vehicles for the 2021 season.
The Global Trends Report, produced annually by Cision Insights and our partner Autoneum, is scheduled to be released later this year in lieu of the usual presentation during the media breakfast at the New York International Auto Show. The report is the culmination of research and insights across the past six months. Autoneum CEO, Matthias Holzammer said, “Delighting car makers all around the world with our products is what we are constantly striving for. It is thus a great sign of recognition that the majority of the top three award finalists are counting on our expertise and innovativeness in acoustic and thermal management. Once again, the World Car Awards prove that the road towards success leads through Autoneum!”
The World Car Awards program would not be possible without the support of our official partners: Autoneum, Brembo, Cision Insights, KPMG, Newspress, the New York International Auto Show and ZF.