The 24th edition of the AUTOBEST Gala Awards took place in the vibrant city of Vienna, Austria, on June 12th, at the Vienna Airport and Conference Center.
The Autobest Gala Awards 2025 once again brought together the most influential personalities in the automotive industry.
As in previous years, the Gala hosted top executives from leading automotive companies and celebrated the winners of the most prestigious awards in the sector. Among the distinguished guests was Denis le Vot, CEO of Dacia, who received the coveted Best Buy Car of Europe 2025 award for the Dacia Duster, the evening’s highlight.
Other notable figures included Arnaud Belloni, Renault’s Global CMO, who was honored with the MANBEST 2025 award and inducted into the MANBEST Hall of Fame, as well as Stefan Sielaff, Chief Designer Officer of Zeekr and Lynk & Co, who was inducted into the DESIGNBEST Hall of Fame and Alfredo Altavilla, BYD Special Adviser for the European Market. Also, other personalities of the car industry like Prof. Sir Ralf Speth, the former CEO of JLR, Nick Rogers, the former Chief Engineering Officer of JLR or Frank Klaas, the former Vice President of Communication of Geely Europe also participated.
These industry leaders and award recipients exemplify the Gala’s role in honoring innovation, excellence, and vision within the automotive world, once again solidifying the Autobest Gala Awards as the “Oscar of the motoring industry”.
The atmosphere was electric, heightened by a captivating live performance from Lexter, a charismatic showman and dynamic entertainer. Renowned across Europe and beyond for his electrifying stage presence and infectious energy, Lexter delivered an incredible show, filling the venue with his contagious vibe and leaving a lasting impression on all attendees.
During the Autobest Gala Awards 2025, alongside celebrating the exceptional achievements in the automotive industry, Autobest announced significant updates to its Jury structure.
Dr. Gerhard Kuntschik has stepped down from his roles as President of the Jury and Jury member representing Austria, marking the end of an impactful chapter.
We were pleased to welcome Petros Soutzis, Co-founder as the new President of the Autobest Jury. Petros’s extensive experience and dedication have undoubtedly served as the foundation for his appointment as President.
Additionally, Richard Aucock, representing the United Kingdom, has been appointed as the new Vice President of the Autobest Jury in recognition of his valuable contributions. Alessio Viola, the representative of Italy, will continue as Vice President of the Jury, in charge for ECOBEST Challenge key project.
These important changes were announced directly on stage by Dan Vardie, Founder and Chairman of Autobest.
As part of this pivotal moment, Dan also revealed a groundbreaking new project: AUTOBEST Conquest — an innovative initiative poised to shape and redefine the automotive landscape.
‘Today we are introducing a completely new concept starting next year, the AUTOBEST Conquest Show. With this revolution, AUTOBEST Jury will share the power of voting for the Best Buy Car of Europe` with the people of Europe. No less than 650 mil car users will have the chance to cast their votes for not only the top European accolade but also for other three new completely new awards covering the Best Car design, the Best car technology and the Best user’s car experience in Europe. The public vote will count for 50% of the final vote of these – in total – 4 European top awards! This is simply unprecedented in the history of motoring and will build new emotions, new confidence and desire. We want to give back the people of Europe the passion for cars and the power to vote for the best!’ Dan Vardie, Founder and Chairman of AUTOBEST stated.
During the Autobest Gala ceremony, in addition to the prestigious Best Buy Car of Europe award, prizes across 8 distinct categories were awarded, recognizing excellence in various segments of the automotive industry:
BEST BUY CAR OF EUROPE 2025: DACIA DUSTER
The ultimate European accolade, Best Buy Car of Europe, has been awarded to DACIA DUSTER and with this occasion, Denis le Vot, CEO of DACIA, declared:” I’d like to say just a few words first to the car, because I cannot not talk about this car. Dacia is not, for example, a star that is back. It’s a star that has been here for quite a while now, 15 years. We are about to sell 2.7 million of them already, which makes it a very famous nameplate in Europe. As you all know, we already sold 200,000 of Dacia Duster, which is a bit more than the previous generation. And this award goes of course to all the engineers, to all the salespeople, to all the marketing people, to all our dealers and of course, our clients. In the second thought I have right now, this goes for the brand, as this represents the turn around. This is what we stand for and the way we call it is: essential, but cool. It is a brand-new platform, it is brand new content, electronic architecture, everything. But at the same time, we are becoming the best value for money, the Autobest Best Buy Car of Europe this year. That’s why it touches us. Thank you and congratulations to Dacia.”
COMPANYBEST 2025: BYD
“What this industry really needs is its voice to be heard, and this is your role. We as industry executives, of course, we are biased. We can keep on talking to our politicians. We can keep on traveling to Brussels, but our vision will always be biased. It’s up to you to make the voice of the industry heard first by consumers and then by politicians. So do your job! Coming to BYD, you’re not rewarding a car company because BYD is not only a car company. The 1st and most interesting thing about BYD is that when you ask Wang Chuanfu, the Founder, about what BYD stands for, what’s the mission of BYD? He will not answer with target volume. The mission of BYD is to lower the temperature of this planet by 1°. That’s the mission of BYD and it’s pretty unique compared to any other car company. Thank you very much indeed to you and thank you very much to all the Autobest jury members.”, declared Alfredo Altavilla, Special Adviser BYD Europe.
MANBEST 2025: Arnaud Belloni
“You cannot imagine how proud I feel today being here in front of you for this ceremony. And this is for many reasons. The first one, I’ve been here so many times, attending as the audience and observing a bench full of my several ex-bosses receiving this award. And I was sincerely, truly happy for them. Second, for me, Autobest means a lot. You’ve done a massive job since so many years; you have awarded cars which people buy for real, and I thank you for that and for your philosophy, the Best Buy Car of Europe philosophy, which is the right one and we see now that it’s absolutely valid. Autobest is now playing in the Champions League of International Auto Awards and your Hall of Fame is simply the automobile reference. Third, very few marketing guys have been awarded until now. No marketing pure player. You have awarded fantastic CEOs, no doubts. Fantastic Presidents, fantastic designers, legends. But basically, very few marketing guys. So, thank you for this. It means a lot.”, said Arnaud Belloni, Renault Global CMO & Chief Branding Officer for All Brands, on stage.
DESIGNBEST 2025: Stefan Sielaff
Stefan Sielaff, Chief Designer Officer of Geely group, said on stage: “I want to make a confession, first of all: I did not prepare a speech because I’m a designer and as designer, you have to be always flexible. So, I just decided, and I want to quote Lexter as well. I’m “Feeling good” and I want to enjoy this moment because it’s the biggest honor so far in my 40 years of career. And of course, first and foremost, my sincere thanks to Dan and the members of the Autobest Jury from my heart for giving me this big, big honor.”
A STAR IS BACK 2025: LANCIA
Simona Magnarelli, PR Manager at Stellantis said on stage: “I’m truly honored to be here tonight to receive on behalf of all the Lancia team this award. And first of all, I want to apologize for Luca and Napolitano, CEO of the LANCIA brand because unfortunately, he couldn’t be here tonight, but I bring you his warmest regards. Thank you for this confirmation more than an award, because I think that the “A Star is Back” award is more than the title – it is the confirmation that the path Lancia has taken is the right one.”
A STAR IS BACK 2025: Renault 5 & Renault 4
“Thank you very much for this A Star is Back award for Renault 5 and Renault 4. It rewards all the work done by Renault and Ampere teams. In fact, it’s a real challenge to revive 2 Renault brand legends with 100% electric curve.”, said Sylvain Darphel, Revenue Leader Renault 5.
TECHNOBEST 2025: AUROBAY Hybrid system technology
Madam Wang, CEO of Aurobay, declared via a video message broadcasted during the Gala: “I’m truly honored to accept the Technobest award on behalf of our entire team at Horse Powertrain. While I regret not being able to join you in person, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the organizers and the Jury for this recognition for our hybrid system technology. This is a testament to the dedication, engineering excellence and relentless pursuit of innovation that defines our company.”
Ingo Scholten, Chief Technology Officer Horse Powertrain, received the award on stage and declared: “I focus on just thanking our engineering team, as this is a recognition of the engineers that are actually making a big difference, as the engineers provide a foundation on our path to net zero. We strongly believe that the future is hybrid. We are very proud to receive this award and I thank Dan and his team. I look forward to the very new format next year.”
SPORTBEST 2025: Walter Röhrl
Dr. Gerhard Kuntschik received the prize in the name of Walter Rohl, declaring: “It’s not only an honor, but also a great pleasure for me to introduce the SPORTBEST Hall of Fame 2025. He’s a legend. And just to remind you, exactly to this date, it’s 45 years ago that he won his first World Rally Championship. It’s 40 years ago that he scored a tremendous win in the San Remo Valley by beating everyone by far. Our SPORTBEST 2025 award goes to Walter Röhrl, the legend from Germany, 2 times World Rally Champion and an ambassador for the brand of Porsche for many years.”
ECOBEST 2025: Renault 5
It’s a real pleasure for me to be with you today and thank you very much for this Ecobest 2025 award for Renault 4 E-Tech Electric. It rewards all the work made by Renault and Ampere teams. Renault 5 E-Tech electric is made in France, and it is a reinvention of pop icon. It’s emotion, design and pleasure in driving in city and beyond the city. Thank you very much for this award. Again, thank you to the Autobest Jury. With Renault 5, we have all the ingredients to revive this lost story with our customers and take them to the future.”, said on stage Laurent Leprieur, Renault 5 E-Tech product Leader.
SMARTBEST 2025: Stellantis CHATGPT System
Marco Cocchia, Head of Business Management EUROPE, declared: “It’s a big honor for me to stand in front of you tonight on behalf of Stellantis. And I’m very happy to accept this prestigious Autobest award in this standing venue in the beautiful Vienna. I would like to thank you all for the recognition because it’s a recognition for the great job done by the Product Development Technology Organization, which I’m proudly representing today. And this celebration is a celebration for the technology, but also for the collaboration that Stellantis had with a lot of people, engaging designers, engineers, product teams and partners across Europe.”
The AUTOBEST awards are highly regarded as the most prestigious European accolades, often referred to as the Oscars of the automotive industry in Europe and the world, bringing together influential automotive figures worldwide.
The AUTOBEST Jury would like to thank all the representatives of the winners of the Gala for being present at the Vienna Airport & Conference Center to receive the awards.
The live streaming of the AUTOBEST Gala 2025 can be watched on the YouTube Channel of AUTOBEST:
The AUTOBEST organisation was created in 2001 with the revolutionary concept of finding the ‘Best Buy Car’ available on the European market. AUTOBEST is the biggest independent motoring Jury in Europe, with top journalists representing 32 countries, of which Russia is suspended for the time being.
For a car to become an AUTOBEST winner, it must represent the best offer 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 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.
Contact: pr@autobest.org
