Fiat 500 wins “2009 World Car Design of the Year” award

At the New York International Auto Show the award’s organisers announced today that Fiat 500 has been voted “2009 World Car Design of the Year”.
A jury of 59 journalists from 25 different countries worldwide short-listed 51 candidates, from which the three finalists were chosen: the Fiat 500, the Citrôen C5 Sedan / C5 Tourer and the Jaguar XF.
Four international design experts, namely Silvia Baruffali, Editorial Director of Auto & Design magazine, Robert Cumberford, design critic and journalist for Automobile and Auto & Design magazines, Akira Fujimoto, Editor-in-Chief of Car Styling magazine and Tom Matano, Executive Director of the School of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, voted the Fiat 500 absolute winner of this year’s award.

“We are proud to receive this prestigious international award, as further endorsement of Fiat’s commitment to creating attractive, innovative cars, which express the best of Italian manufacturing capability,” commented Roberto Giolito, Fiat’s Head of Design. “Italian design has often been a step ahead of future trends in the automotive world and our latest models, spearheaded by the Fiat 500, are an expression of “practical beauty”, which is what the world expects of Italian cars. We will continue to work untiringly on innovative design and endeavour to combine the best of the future with the historical, cultural and industrial identity of the Fiat brand.”