• Country: Luxembourg
  • Country: Lithuania
  • Name: Gerhard Kuntschik, President of the Jury Country: Austria Capital: Vienna Population: 9,097,759 Auto Park: 240.000 new registrations (2021)
  • Name: Xavier Daffe Country: Belgium Capital: Bruxelles Population: 11,239,755 Auto Park: 5,9 millions
  • Name: Ilia Seliktar, Honorary President of the Jury and Co-Founder member of the board Country: Bulgaria Capital: Sofia Population: 6,856,602 Auto Park: 2.5 million, year import and registration of new cars - 35 000, second hand - 250 000. Name: Leonid Seliktar Country: Bulgaria Capital: Sofia Population: 6,856,602 Auto Park: 350,000 new vehicles.
  • Name: Ozren Adamović Country: Croatia Capital: Zagreb Population: 3,88 million Auto Park: 1,968,370
  • Name: Petros Soutzis, Co-founder & Vice President of the jury Country: Cyprus Capital: Nicosia Population: 1,141,166 Auto Park: 900,000
  • Name: Vladimir Rybecky Country: Czech Republic Capital: Prague Population: 10 515 669 Auto Park: 6 293 125 registered cars (average age 15,58), 610 405 registered light commercial vehicles, 186 905 registered trucks, 20 489 registered buses (end of the year 2021). Registrations in 2021: 206 876 new cars, 19 660 new LCVs, 8 679 new trucks, 1 367 buses. Car production in 2021: cars 1 105 223, trucks 1 262, buses 4 947.
  • Name: Mikkel Thomsager Country: Denmark Capital: Copenhagen Population: 5,700,000 Auto Park: 2,278,000
  • Country: Finland
  • Country: France
  • Name: Ioannis Stavropoulos Country: Greece Capital: Athens Population: 10,815,197 Auto Park: 5.200.000 cars, exclude taxi (is about 34.000) LCV and HCV
  • Name: Robert van Ginneken Country: Holland Capital: Amsterdam Population: 17,5 million Auto Park: 9 million of which 400.000 BEV and 145.000 PHEV
  • Name: Gábor Szécsényi Country: Hungary Capital: Budapesta Population: 9,617,512 Auto Park: 4,000,000
  • Name: Achim Stahn Country: Germany Capital: Berlin Population: 83,000,000 Auto Park: 47,700,000
  • Name: Dave Humphreys Country: Ireland Capital: Dublin Population: 6,378,000 Auto Park: 2,515,322
  • Name: Alessio Viola Country: Italy Capital: Rome Population: 60,795,612 Auto Park: 36,900,000
  • Name: Krumislav Barzov Country: Macedonia Capital: Skopje Population: 2,058,539 Auto Park: 400,000
  • Name: Anthony Alfred Darmanin Country: Malta Capital: Valletta Population: 425,000 Auto Park: 410,000 Registered vehicles, approx. 10,000 new vehicles registered each year
  • Name: David Andersen Country: Norway Capital: Oslo Population: 5,136,700 Auto Park: 3 milion
  • Name: Szczepan Mroczek Country: Poland Capital: Warsaw Population: 37,773,915 Auto Park: 25,000,000
  • Name: José Caetano Country: Portugal Capital: Lisbon Population: 10,347,892 Auto Park: 4,480,000
  • Name: Dan Vardie, Founder & Chairman Country: Romania Capital: Bucharest Population: 19,237,691 Auto Park: 8,9 millions
  • Name: Suspended – Petr Menshikh Country: Russia Capital: Moscow Population: 143,975,923
  • Name: Mladen Alvirović Country: Serbia Capital: Belgrad Population: 7,209,764 Auto Park: 2,200,000
  • Name: Rudolf Karpat, Co-founder Country: Slovakia Capital: Bratislava Population: 5,415,949 Auto Park: 2,725,538 Name: Michal Karpat Country: Slovakia Capital: Bratislava Population: 5,5 milion Auto Park: 3,436.018 cars and LCV registered , 2021 sales: 75.700 cars and LCV
  • Country: Slovenia
  • Name: Joan Dalmau Country: Spain Capital: Madrid Population: 46,786,605 Auto Park: 29.9 million vehicles
  • Name: Felix Björklund Country: Sweden Capital: Stockholm Population: 10,23 million Auto Park: 4,887,904
  • Name: Markus Rutishauser Country: Switzerland Capital: Bern Population: 8,306,200 Auto Park: 4,503,339
  • Name: Okan Altan Country: Turkey Capital: Ankara Population: 85 million Auto Park: 25,385,084 (End of 2022, February)
  • Name: Richard Aucock Country: United Kingdom Capital: London Population: 64,511,000 Auto Park: 37,000,000
  • Name: Oleg Vasylevskyi Country: Ukraine Capital: Kiev Population: 42,031,000 Auto Park: 10,950,000 cars and commercial vehicles

AUTOBEST ANNOUNCES THE 24TH EDITION OF GALA AWARDS in Vienna, June 12th 202519 / 02 / 2025

  • BEST BUY CAR OF EUROPE 2025: DACIA DUSTER takes home the European top accolade.
  • The AUTOBEST GALA AWARDS celebrates excellence in the automotive industry delivering 9 key awards.
  • The leading European independent test for EVs, ECOBEST CHALLENGE 2025 is set for MAY 26-28th 2025
  • VITOLDAS MILIUS is the first Lithuanian member of AUTOBEST Jury

The AUTOBEST independent group of motoring media experts with the largest representation in Europe, is excited to announce the 24th edition of the AUTOBEST 2025 Awards Gala, taking place on June 12th, in Vienna, the beautiful capital of Austria.

The most important European motoring award `Best Buy Car of Europe 2025` will be offered to DACIA for the third generation DACIA DUSTER.

Duster is only the second car model winning two times the prestigious prize in the 24 years history of AUTOBEST.

This prestigious event will highlight the best in the automotive sector and recognize the 2025 achievements of automotive brands, individuals and innovations that shape the future of mobility across Europe and the world.

Other awards to be presented during the Gala include:

  • COMPANYBEST 2025: BYD
  • MANBEST Hall of Fame: Arnaud Belloni, CMO Renault brand
  • SPORTBEST Hall of Fame: Walter Röhrl
  • DESIGNBEST Hall of Fame: Stefan Sielaff, Chief Designer Officer Geely group
  • ECOBEST 2025: Renault 5
  • TECHNOBEST 2025: AUROBAY Hybrid system technology
  • SMARTBEST 2025: ChatGPT on board of Stellantis DS, Peugeot, Opel
  • SAFETYBEST 2025: CYBEX Airbag Car Seat

AUTOBEST is also delivering for the first time in the history a completely new award `A STAR IS BACK`. This is going to LANCIA for the remarkable comeback of the legendary Italian brand.

Renault 5 & Renault 4 are also receiving `A STAR IS BACK` award for the outstanding revival of the two iconic models in a modern interpretation.

AUTOBEST is thrilled to welcome Vitoldas Milius as a new jury member, representing Lithuania – first time represented in the Autobest Jury, expanding the representation to 32 European countries.  

` I’m excited to be part of AUTOBEST, as this is a great chance for me to use my professional skills in the best car evaluation platform. As a passionate car enthusiast, I’m proud to represent Lithuania and work alongside experienced experts from Europe. With the car industry undergoing big changes and challenges, I’m eager to be part of this journey and to share valuable insights about the future of motoring. AUTOBEST has a strong understanding of what European car owners want and need, and I’m looking forward to helping find the best cars and solutions for every customer`, Vitoldas said for this release.

Moreover, the ECOBEST Challenge 2025 is set to take place from MAY 26-28th near Vairano, Italy, the proving ground of the Italian car bible Quattroruote, the technical partner of ECOBEST Challenge.

This year, AUTOBEST is excited to announce a new partnership, details of which will be disclosed later.

The ECOBEST Challenge is certified by BUREAU VERITAS for the third consecutive year, earning global recognition for its innovative and consistent methodology. The certification underscores the event’s commitment to providing a genuine, comprehensive, and unbiased green credentials of electric vehicles (EVs) in `real traffic, real life, real green` conditions.

The AUTOBEST ECOBEST Challenge test is addressed to the 665 mil car users of Europe, looking forward to learning all the details of EV’s true data. 

Further details about the participating brands, partnerships, and other significant aspects of the ECOBEST Challenge will be shared in a subsequent press release closer to the event.

The previous 23rd edition of the AUTOBEST Awards Gala took place last year in the heart of Luxembourg, at the prestigious Leweck Resort, a venue famous for its hospitality and heritage, passed down through generations (https://autobest.org/the-autobest-organisation-celebrated-the-23rd-edition-of-the-gala-awards-in-luxembourg/) Over two decades, the AUTOBEST Gala Awards has become the key event on the motoring calendar, with world-class artistic content and a unique Grand Finale for the AUTOBEST Best Buy Car of Europe Award.

For more information about the AUTOBEST organization, the Gala Awards, and the ECOBEST Challenge, please visit autobest.org and ecobestchallenge.org.

ENDS

About AUTOBEST

The AUTOBEST organization was created in 2001 with the revolutionary concept of finding the ‘Best Buy Car’ available on the European market. For a car to become the AUTOBEST winner, it must represent the best offer for most European car users. Price, service network, spare parts distribution and versatility are the most important criteria in the voting process. Design and new technologies are also becoming a more critical factor for voting. AUTOBEST uses a transparent voting system, with a complex matrix of 13 criteria to decide the winner.

The AUTOBEST jury members represents 32+1 European countries (Russia remains suspended for the time being) – the largest independent motoring jury in Europe and in the world by the number of represented countries. The AUTOBEST jury pays close attention to the automotive industry’s efforts. Investments, new automotive job opportunities, funds for green cars and technologies, the support for different regions of Europe are all carefully checked by the jury. New in-car technologies and connectivity are also under scrutiny.

Contact:

Andreea Oglan

pr@autobest.org

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