Fiat 500 Declared 2009 World Car Design of the Year

The Fiat 500 was presented with the 2009 World Car Design of the Year award at the New York auto show today.

The winner of the award was decided upon by a distinguished panel of judges selected for their expertise in automobile design. The top three finalist were all European models and included the Citroen C5 sedan and C5 Tourer (together), the Jaguar XF, and, of course, the winning Fiat 500.

Previous years' winners were the Audi R8 in 2008, the Audi TT in 2007, and Citroen took home the prize in 2006 for the C4 model.

The World Car Design of the Year award was begun in 2004 and is run by a steering committee of prominent automotive journalists from all over the world. Serving as the judges this year were Robert Cumberford, design critic for Automobile and Auto & Design magazines, Akira Fujimoto, editor of Car Styling magazine, Silvia Baruffaldi, managing editor of Auto & Design magazine and Tom Matano, director of the School of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art university in San Francisco.

The panel said of the 500:

"Icon is an overused word in the automotive world, but the Fiat 500 dating from 1957 genuinely deserves the sobriquet. [The 500 captures] the visual appeal of the original version while meeting modern design and engineering standards."

Press Release

At a press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show and Mobil 1 at the Jacob Javits Centre in Manhattan, New York, the Fiat 500 was declared the 2009 World Car Design of the Year.

Cars eligible for the 2009 World Car Design of the Year award are taken from the list of fifty-one (51) World Car candidates nominated by fifty-nine (59) World Car jurors from twenty-five (25) countries throughout the world.

The World Car Design of the Year category, and the corresponding award, is meant to highlight new vehicles with innovation and style that push established boundaries.

A design panel consisting of four highly respected world design experts asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors. The design experts were:

-- Silvia Baruffaldi: Managing Editor, Auto & Design magazine
-- Robert Cumberford: design critic, Automobile and Auto & Design
magazines
-- Akira Fujimoto: Editor-in-Chief, Car Styling magazine.

-- Tom Matano: Executive Director, School of Industrial Design, Academy
of Art University, San Francisco, USA

Jurors then voted on the expert's recommendations and the ballots were tabulated by the international accounting firm KPMG. The top three design finalists were, in alphabetical order, the Fiat 500, the Citroen C5 Sedan / C5 Tourer, and the Jaguar XF.

This is the second time that a Fiat design has been chosen one of the top three finalists. The Fiat Grande Punto was the initial top three finalist for the design title in 2007.

The World Car jurors observed, "Icon is an overused word in the automotive world, but the Fiat 500 dating from 1957 genuinely deserves the sobriquet. Revived by Fiat last year, the new Cinquecento is larger than its predecessor but still smaller than a Mini. Cheerful and cheeky, it does a brilliant job of capturing the visual appeal of the original version while meeting modern design and engineering standards. Design consultant Robert Cumberford says the new 500 "pushes the emotional hot buttons of several generations of people who might never have driven one of the early models, but who admired them on European streets. Built on the Panda platform, the 500 keeps the original's charm, adding two more seats and all contemporary safety, anti-pollution and driving aids." In Tom Matano's opinion the Fiat possesses "heart-warming style. It is genuine, straightforward, without gimmicks. It is a welcome addition to a car world full of non-humanistic designs."

"It is with great pride that we accept an award which sets the seal on the work done by Fiat to create stunningly good-looking cars that convey everything that is best in Italian manufacturing," said Roberto Giolito, Head of Style Fiat. "Italian design has often anticipated the future trends of motoring and our latest models, as the Fiat 500 shows, stand out for that 'concrete beauty' that the whole world has come to expect from an Italian car. We will never cease to work in the direction of design innovation, creating products of great styling appeal which at the same time never fail to respect our historical, cultural and industrial identity."

Previous winners of the World Car Design of the Year award were the Audi R8 in 2008, the Audi TT in 2007 and the Citroen C4 in 2006.

Now in their sixth year, the annual World Car awards have become one of the world's most prestigious, credible and significant programs of its kind.

The awards were inaugurated in 2003, and officially launched in January 2004, to reflect the reality of the global marketplace, as well as to recognize and reward automotive excellence on an international scale. The awards are intended to complement, not compete, with existing national and regional Car of the Year programs.

The awards are administered by a non-profit association, under the guidance of a Steering Committee of pre-eminent automotive journalists from Asia, Europe, and North America. There is no affiliation with, nor are the awards in any way influenced by any publication, auto show, automaker, or other commercial enterprise.