The new Opel Corsa wins “AUTOBEST 2015”14 / 09 / 2015

“COMPANYBEST” award is going to Hyundai ASSAN

Opel Corsa was voted “AUTOBEST 2015”, becoming the first car in the AUTOBEST history to win two times for two consecutive generations. With a total of 994 points, the winner overtook-  with  88 points- Hyundai 120, nr 2 in competition. Skoda Fabia is coming third, with a total of 871 points. With 830 points Citroen C4 Cactus is closing the AUTOBEST 2015 Final 4. (for detailed results, see Final Ranking in www.autobest.org)

“The new Corsa proved to be a great small car. All the Jury members noticed the arguments who made the new Opel `The Best Buy Car of Europe in 2015`. The new generation is a meaningful evolution of the Opel model who won AUTOBEST award seven years ago. From design to brilliant on board modern technologies, the new Corsa is proposing a consumer oriented package, ready to improve the already impressive sales performance of the previous generation. It is my pleasure to congratulate all the people involved in the Corsa project- engineers, designers, people who manufacture the car, etc-  for this wonderful confirmation of their outstanding job.” stated Mr Dan Vardie, AUTOBEST Founder & Chairman.

“COMPANYBEST 2014” is awarded to Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Sanayi, the company’s longest-serving plant outside of Korea, for its outstanding production standards, its financial efficiency and for the level of corporate responsibility.  The factory located in Turkey recently benefitted from significant investment to boost production capacity, bringing New Generation i10 –the winner of “AUTOBEST 2014” award- production to Europe and providing a number of benefits to the region. Hyundai increased the factory’s capacity to 200,000 units in 2014, after an investment of 677 million US dollars which generated 2.700 new jobs in Turkey. 178.000 vehicles produced at Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Sanayi are exported to more than 30 countries, primarily in Europe. Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Sanayi has become Hyundai Motor’s small car production base for Europe.

 ŠKODA CEO Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland is honored with “MANBEST 2014” prize for the remarkable results achieved by the brand under his leadership. The level of success will be marked at the end of 2014, when the annual production figures of ŠKODA will surpass the 1 million units milestone. In September 2010 Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland was appointed Škoda Auto a.s. Board Chairman. Since then the company had a prosperous trajectory and his experience regarding the Chinese market, which he accumulated since 2005, when he assumed the position as President and CEO of Volkswagen (China) Investment Company as well as Global Vice President of Volkswagen AG, also applied to the great sale performance achieved by ŠKODA in China.

The “ECOBEST 2014” award is going to Linde Group, for its leading role in the developing of the H2 fuelling station network and for supplying technologies and infrastructural solutions which will ensure the transition to clean, hydrogen-powered personal mobility and hydrogen-based energy storage. Linde’s involvement in this pioneering program is of utmost importance for the future fuel cell cars. “At AUTOBEST we support all the meaningful green initiatives in Europe. Linde is a pioneer in the distribution of H2. From 2015 on, we will see several fuel cell new cars from different brands to be deployed on different European markets. It is crucially important to have the best H2 supply network for these cars. Linde is remarkable part of the solution.” Ilia Seliktar, AUTOBEST President said.

Volkswagen Motorsport is awarded “SPORTBEST 2014”, as it has dominated for a consecutive year the World Rally Championship. This year the team has won once more both the Manufacturers’ Title and Drivers’ Title, after making WRC history last year when it managed the same glorious double victory at its debut in this highly demanding competition. In total, Volkswagen Motorsport and the reliable Polo R WRC car dominated the competition with an iron fist, winning 12 out of the 13 races in the 2014 calendar. Also, Volkswagen Motorsport achieved the earliest manufacturers’ championship win in 25 years.

“TECHNOBEST ”, “SAFETYBEST”, “SMARTBEST” and “DESIGNBEST” awards have already been announced after Mondial de L`Automobil in Paris. (please see www.autobest.org)

In electing the AUTOBEST car winner, the Jury made its decision taking into consideration 13 criteria, each of them counting a specific number of points that reflect a different importance in the final vote of each car. The price, with 50 points out of a total of 240 available to be distributed among the finalists, is the most important. Practical issues, like distribution network, service and spare parts availability, consumption, versatility, mean 20 points each. Other criteria, like new technologies, handling, dynamics, environmental friendly, are also coming to a close examination with specific number of available points. The design – interior and exterior- evaluated with 40 points, becomes more and more important for the clients everywhere in Europe.

The 14th edition of AUTOBEST AWARDS FESTIVITY will take place February next year, in Zagreb, Croatia. Following the tradition, AUTOBEST International Jury grants the awards in a different country every year. Last edition, the festivity was held in Warsaw, Poland.

The AUTOBEST Jury thanks the readers from the region for encouraging the project and the PR responsible in the automotive industry for providing all the support in organizing meetings and drive tests of the new products.

The AUTOBEST organization is the only international independent jury focusing on best-buy choice for mainstream customers. This year, the AUTOBEST members of the Jury are coming from 15 countries in the region, and represent a virtual market with more than 300 million people. Each member of the Jury is an outstanding motoring journalist, a respected voice in his country. AUTOBEST is the second largest independent motoring Jury in Europe.