What's the news?
The five finalists for the European Autobest 2017 have been announced, with the Citroen C3, Kia Niro, Peugeot 3008, SEAT Ateca, and Toyota C-HR all vying for the award of the 'Best Buy Car of Europe in 2017'. A jury of 31 European members, including CompleteCar.ie Road Test Editor, Dave Humphreys, will announce the winner on 15 December. These shortlisted cars will take part in an extensive 'Final Five' group test on 23/24 November at the Vairano proving ground near Milan, Italy.
Anything else?
In addition to the five finalists being announced, the winners of four other award categories have been revealed. Carlos Tavares, CEO of the PSA Group, has been honoured with the Manbest 2016 award, which is given in recognition of management performance. He has been instrumental in restructuring the company's product portfolios and accelerated the evolution of the company on the new trends of the automotive industry.
The Companybest 2016 award goes to Opel Group GmbH, which, under the leadership of Dr Karl Thomas Neumann, is returning to a more stable financial operation and is rolling out some impressive new models. One of which - the Opel Ampera-e - has also clinched the Ecobest 2016 award. This new all-electric Opel is set to go on sale shortly and has a driving range of up to 500 kilometres.
The fourth winner to be announced is Volvo Cars Chief Designer, Thomas Ingenlath, who will receive the Designbest 2016 award. Ingenlath has 24 years of experience within the automotive industry, having worked in lead design positions at Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda. In 2012, he joined the Volvo Car Group as the Senior Vice President at the Volvo Design Center in Gothenburg. Since his arrival, the design direction at Volvo Cars has undergone an intense transformation. He guided the creation of a new design language and the introduction of Volvo's new scalable platform by developing a series of very successful concept cars.