Country: Luxembourg
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
Name: Tommi Petteri Lempinen Country: Finland Capital: Helsinki Population: 5,300,000
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

Gerhard Kuntschik, President of the Jury Austria

Personal Information

02.07.1954, St. Pölten, Austria.

Country Represented

Austria. Population: 8.8 mil.

Member of Autobest Jury

since 2015 – Vicepresident of the Jury

Car Park

approx. 328.000 new registrations 2019.

Career

Occupation

Joined Salzburger Nachrichten (nationwide daily) in 1977, since 1979 fully employed in sports staff (focus on motor sports, ice hockey, basketball, showjumping, speed skating); since 2007 motoring and motor sports editor, responsible for motoring coverage (launches, auto shows, test reports etc.), special supplements (such as auto shows, commercial vehicles etc.) and racing, primarily F1, WEC, DTM.
After retiring from Salzburger Nachrichten, freelance journalist in motoring and motor sports since August 2019.

Motoring Media Career:

Motor sports coverage since high school days, first F1 GP covered Austria 1973 (so far 300+);
since 1981 US racing scene (CART/Indycar, NASCAR);
since 1980s Endurance Racing; besides Salzburger Nachrichten work free lance contributor to magazines, websites and dailies such as Autosport (GB), Sony (JAP), Speedweek (CH), Tagesanzeiger (CH), Welt (GER).

Awards and Nominations / Professional Performances:

Lector at Salzburg University since 1984 until 2016 in departments sports and communications.

Statement

AUTOBEST is an expanding independent organization of opinion leaders in the automotive media who look beyond the scene. It is a pleasure to contribute to AUTOBEST and represent Austria for the first time on the jury panel.