The new Citroën Berlingo, Opel Combo Life and Peugeot Rifter win `AUTOBEST 2019 – Best Buy car of Europe`
Jaguar I-Pace wins the ‘ECOBEST 2018’ award
‘COMPANYBEST 2018’ is awarded to Aston Martin Lagonda
‘SAFETYBEST 2018’ goes to Hyundai for the New Rear Occupant Alert Reducing Child Heat Hazards
‘SMARTBEST 2018’ goes to BMW for its Intelligent Personal Assistant
The new Citroën Berlingo, Peugeot Rifter and Opel Combo Life have been voted “AUTOBEST 2019”, the European accolade for `The Best Buy Car of Europe in 2019`. With a total of 14076 points, the PSA Triplets clinched first place by only 148 points over the new generation Ford Focus. The 12-th generation Toyota Corolla came in third place with a total of 13.846 points, only 82 points less than Focus. The Kia Ceed, Citroen C4 Cactus and second generation Dacia Duster followed in the overall rankings.
“It is my pleasure to congratulate leadership of the 3 PSA brands winning AUTOBEST 2019 award! It was such a tough competition with many great competitors. In terms of body styles and powertrains, it is definitely the most diverse AUTOBEST contest in years. The choice of the Jury for a `Ludo space` type of vehicle is a bold decision and reconfirms the ability to detect new trends, giving to the average consumer of Europe a real guide in buying the cars fit for tomorrow!” said Ilia Seliktar, the Jury President.
`The PSA triplets’ victory is well-deserved for this new platform. A platform designed from the car perspective and requirements and able to deliver different personalities fitting each of the brand offers. A platform who convinced two international juries from car and LCV perspectives and who will probably be one of the best sellers in incoming years. This is the first time in our history when we have a multiple winner. I am personally glad for the choice of AUTOBEST Jury for this body style as a true expression of a Best Buy Car of Europe. ` said Dan Vardie, AUTOBEST Founder & Chairman.
After 18 years practically unchanged, the legendary AUTOBEST voting matrix was up-graded for this edition to embrace the future of motoring which started to include more technologies for green propulsions, connected and autonomous driving capabilities. This is the first step in the new approach of motoring the Jury is introducing after the release of AUTOBEST Credo of last year. In the incoming years more will come, placing AUTOBEST in the forefront of the motoring media assessment of new cars and technologies.
With 31 countries represented, AUTOBEST is the largest independent motoring Jury in Europe. No less than 95% of the European population is represented by the Jury.
The ‘COMPANYBEST 2018’ award goes to the Aston Martin Lagonda. The prize is a recognition of the incredible journey of the British company under the leadership of Dr. Andy Palmer and his management team. Already a distinguished member of our ‘MANBEST’ Hall of Fame featuring the best executives in the car industry, Dr. Palmer’s arrival at the company signaled a fresh restart for the century-old marque, the brand of choice of James Bond. The century plan introduced only a few years ago has already shown results making the company profitable and adding some great new models very well received by the markets. Moreover, under the new leadership, Aston Martin started a new journey as a luxury brand beyond cars.
AUTOBEST Jury members voted for Hyundai’s Rear Occupant Alert as the winner of ‘SAFETYBEST 2018’ award. This pioneering system detects movements in the rear seats and acts to prevent parents from leaving a child in the back seat of a hot car. This feature is very helpful in protecting the lives of children in hotter countries where many cases of child death have occurred in recent times. The AUTOBEST Jury acknowledges Hyundai as an example to be followed by other brands to include this kind of systems in future car ranges, especially in the family-oriented models.
For the outstanding contribution of connecting driver and artificial intelligence in the car, the ‘SMARTBEST 2018′ award goes to BMW for its Intelligent Personal Assistant. With this prestigious award jury recognized the great ability of BMW IPA to smoothly provide a wealth of information, but also natural reactions to drivers’ needs and, above all, to collaborate with other existing virtual assistants that are used by car owner on other devices. The collaboration of multiple virtual assistants is what makes BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant a step forward.
The Jaguar I-Pace is the winner of `ECOBEST 2018` award. The first electric Jaguar is also the first premium electric SUV to come from a European manufacturer. It is one of the most technically advanced cars launched this year and is a brilliant expression of the Jaguar Land Rover’s technical capabilities. A courageous project from a company significantly smaller than Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, who all have competitors to the I-Pace planned. It is a game changer in the fast-growing segment of green cars. A perfect example of AUTOBEST meaning of `ECOBEST. `
‘MANBEST’, ‘TECHNOBEST’, ‘DESIGNBEST’ and ‘SPORTBEST’ awards have already been announced after Paris Mondial de L’Automobile salon auto (please see www.autobest.org). The 18th AUTOBEST Awards Festivity will take place on February 7th 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. Following the tradition, the AUTOBEST International Jury presents the awards in a different country each year. The previous AUTOBEST Gala was held in Salzburg, Austria.
The European AUTOBEST Jury thanks the readers from all Europe for encouraging the project and the various PR departments responsible in the automotive industry for providing all the support in organizing meetings and drive tests of the new products.
ENDS
About AUTOBEST
The AUTOBEST organisation was established in 2001 with the revolutionary concept of “best buy car” available on the European market. A total of 31 European nations is represented in the Jury, covering the vast majority of the European population. For a car to become an AUTOBEST winner, it must represent the best offering for most European customers. Price, service network, spare parts distribution and versatility are the most important criteria in the voting process. Design and new technologies are becoming important criteria for voting. AUTOBEST uses a transparent voting system, with a complex matrix of 13 criteria to decide the winner.
Contact:
Larisa Gîrbacea
PR Director AUTOBEST
pr@autobest.org
