Chevrolet Camaro wins the 2010 World Car Design of the Year Award

At the 2010 New York Auto Show the Chevrolet Camaro was declared the 2010 World Car Design of the Year. The general, performance and green categories were respectively won by the VW Polo, the Audi R8 V10 and the VW Bluemotion model line-up.

At a press conference hosted by the New York International Auto Show, Bridgestone Corporation, and BASF SE at the Jacob Javits Centre in Manhattan, New York, the Chevrolet Camaro was declared the 2010 World Car Design of the Year.

Robin Rotenberg, Vice President Corporate Communications and Chief Communications Officer, BASF Corporation and Tom Peters, Design Director for RWD and Performance Cars, General Motors

Tom Peters, Design Director for Chevrolet RWD and Performance Cars, General Motors, accepts 2010 World Car Design of the year award, presented by BASF, from John McCormick, World Car Steering Committee director.

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. Cars eligible for this award are taken from the list of thirty World Car candidates nominated by fifty-nine World Car jurors from twenty-five countries across the globe.
A design panel consisting of five design experts was asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors. The design experts were:

• Masatsugu Arimoto: chairman of the Japan Auto Colour Award program, juror on Japan’s governmental "Good Design Award" committee, and Car Styling’s "Car Design Awards";
• Silvia Baruffaldi: Managing Editor of Auto & Design magazine;
• Gernot Bracht: former designer at Renault, now teaches at Pforzheim design school in Germany;
• Sam Livingstone: an Associate Editor of Car Design News and since 2001 has lectured at the Royal College of Art where he is now Senior Tutor in Vehicle Design;
• Tom Matano: currently the Executive Director, School of Industrial Design, at Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Previously,, Matano managed the Mazda Chief Designers group that created the entire Mazda car line designs.

The experts observed that, “The new Camaro leans on its heritage but does so in an artful, modern fashion.

“Although it borrows some of its styling cues from the first generation Camaro, they all contribute to a simple, pure and modern appearance. It is the most dynamic Camaro ever,” says Masatugu Arimoto.
Sam Livingstone appreciates the “innately seductive exterior and interior. It’s well resolved and I’d argue evidence that General Motors strikes a better balance than Ford and Chrysler do in their pony cars.”

 

"In recreating this modern sports car, we have proven that people are just as passionate about Chevy as ever," said Michael Simcoe, Chevrolet Design Director.

 

"We have been delighted about the strong reaction to the Camaro — even in markets that are new to Chevy, it has been creating an emotional appeal for the brand."

The top three contenders for 2010 World Car Design of the Year were the Chevrolet Camaro, the Citroen C3 Picasso, and the Kia Soul.
Previous winners of the World Car Design of the Year award were the Fiat 500 in 2009, the Audi R8 in 2008, the Audi TT in 2007 and the Citroen C4 in 2006.
In the other categories, the VW Polo was declared World Car of the Year – ahead of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Toyota Prius; the Audi R8 V10 won the World Performace Car Award and the VW Bluemotion (Golf, Passat, Polo) won the World Green Car category.