DACIA JOGGER, HONDA CIVIC, OPEL ASTRA, PEUGEOT 308, RENAULT AUSTRAL, and TOYOTA AYGO X are the finalists for the AUTOBEST 2023 award. These cars will compete for the prize of Best Buy Car of Europe in 2023. The jury of 31 members from 31 countries will make their final assessments and cast their votes in the upcoming weeks, with the winner of the 22nd Edition of AUTOBEST set to be announced in mid-December.
AUTOBEST releases the logo of the European AUTOBEST 2023 Finalist. The six manufacturers are entitled to use the logo in their communication and promotion campaigns leading up to the announcement of the AUTOBEST 2023 winner.
Following successful events organised in the last two years, despite the challenging pandemic restrictions, the jury will again go to Teesdorf, AUSTRIA on November 23rd & 24th for the Final Test. The Fahrtechnik proving ground, operated by the Austrian Automobile Club (OEAMTC), gained international recognition for vehicle testing and driver education in many areas. With Teesdorf placed in the proximity of Vienna Airport, Autobest established a partnership to perform a comprehensive package of tests to explore the full potential of the finalists.
The jury voted for Dacia as the winner of COMPANYBEST 2023 award. This prestigious award is going to Dacia for its outstanding market performance and excellent customer reviews around Europe. In spite of the pandemic and restricted supply chain issues, Dacia is one of the few brands with a remarkable increase in European markets, proving the desirability and relevance of its models. Both the Duster and Sandero have maintained a consistent presence in the top 10 best-selling models in the European retail market. The Dacia Spring, the first affordable electric car in Europe, is the AUTOBEST – Best Buy Car of Europe 2022.
Artur Martins, Global Brand & CX Division, CBO & CXO of Kia, is the new inductee inthe MANBEST 2023 Hall of Fame. The man behind Kia’s transformation and new global image has a long experience in the automotive industry. He started his career in his home country, Portugal, with Fiat. Within this competitive and exciting sector, Artur Martins had the chance to work in different areas of the business, moving from brand to brand, country to country, and continent to continent. In Kia, he developed the business in Europe before moving to South Korea. Following this success, he moved to play a central role in the global strategy and growth ambitions of Kia as it embraces the challenge of electrification.
The new inductee in the DESIGNBEST 2023 Hall of Fame is Jean-Pierre Ploué, Chief Design Officer of Stellantis. He has built his entire career path within the automotive industry and has worked for multiple brands, including Renault, Volkswagen, Ford, Citroën, Peugeot and DS Automobiles. Ploué joined Groupe PSA in 2000 and subsequently held the position of Citroën Design Director, designing many models and concepts for the French brand. He went on to become Head of Design for Groupe PSA in 2008. He was the initiator of the DS product line in 2006, paving the way for the introduction of the new premium brand at Groupe PSA in 2014: DS Automobiles. In 2010, he was appointed as Chief Design & Creative Strategy Officer. Under the constellation of brands in Stellantis, Jean Pierre is now acting as Chief Design Officer, contributing to the future designs of the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat Europe, Lancia, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall brands.
The SMARTBEST 2023 award goes to Renault Austral Android Automotive OS with embedded Google services. The French maker has taken the Android Automotive OS platform and brilliantly combined it with its software expertise to make a standard-setting new infotainment system available to mainstream car buyers. It is slick, crisp, speedy – and future-proof, thanks to the ever-expanding Google Play App Store. Arguably, it is the best-connected car available in Europe.
For the SAFETYBEST 2023, the AUTOBEST Jury is going on a new route, awarding the Lidar system of Valeo. Scala was the world’s first automotive-grade Lidar, and the company remains the leading supplier of this essential piece of technology. Lidar is essential to Level 3 autonomy and above – and Valeo is helping make it a reality, ensuring safer roads for us all. In simple words, Lidar can ‘see’ what the human eyes (or cameras) cannot.
The SPORTBEST 2023 award is going to Jutta Kleinschmidt, who achieved several milestones for women in motorsports. She was a leading competitor in the prestigious Dakar Rally and became the first woman to score an overall victory in 2001 driving a Mitsubishi Pajero. Jutta, who was born in Cologne but grew up in Berchtesgaden, also achieved second overall in 2002 and third in 1999 and 2005. Until this year, she remains active in the Extreme E series as a works driver for Abt Cupra.
AUTOBEST jury members represent 31+1 European countries (Russia remains suspended for the time being), making it the largest independent motoring jury in Europe and 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. In total, we announce eight awards for these achievements. In the coming weeks, AUTOBEST will communicate the winners oftheECOBEST andTECHNOBEST categories.
The 22nd AUTOBEST Awards ceremony will take place in Rotterdam, Nederland, in 2023 at a date to be announced. Earlier this year, the 21st Edition of the AUTOBEST Awards Gala took place on 9th June in Royal Palace Music Hall Kirrwiller, near Strasbourg, France.
Over two decades, the AUTOBEST Awards Gala has become the key event on the motoring calendar, with world-class artistic content and a unique Grand Finale for the AUTOBEST Award. More information is available at www.autobest.org
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About AUTOBEST
The AUTOBEST organisation was created in 2001 with the revolutionary concept of finding the ‘Best Buy Car’ available on the European market. 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.
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