Polestar 4 awarded Car Design of the Year by Car Design News

Car design’s most auspicious peer-awarded prize goes to Polestar 4, while Dacia Manifesto wins Concept Design of the Year

The Polestar 4 has won the Car Design News ‘Production Car Design of the Year’ award for 2023, one of the industry’s most auspicious design prizes. Announced at the Car Design News Peoples Awards, it was joined by two other main automotive categories including Concept Car Design of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement award.

The Car Design News awards are different from most design awards, as they are selected by a panel of 16 leading designers from the world’s most famous studios. This year, the panel included names such as Massimo Frascella, design director of Jaguar Land Rover, and Lisa Reeves, Head of interior design at Volvo Cars, who worked with the esteemed panel in selecting the winners on peer merit. 

• New Polestar 4 ride review

The Polestar claimed its prize at the head of a 10-car shortlist, pipping the highly commended Kia EV9, Volvo EX30 and Jeep Avenger to top spot. Also of note were the four Chinese models in the top-10 list, leaving only three European manufacturers in contention. James McLachlan, editor of Car Design News, said of Polestar’s win; “the 4 was a clear favourite of fellow designer judges, receiving the highest number of first place votes [eight] in the Production Car Design of the Year award category. 

Concept Car Design of the Year was awarded to the Dacia Manifesto Concept, a particularly impressive result considering it’s the brand’s first ever concept car, headlining a comprehensive design revolution of its road-going models. The concept shortlist also included the Citroen Oli and Mercedes Vision One-Eleven, and in contrast to the production car class, saw eight of the 10 shortlisted models from European brands, with the remaining two from the USA. 

Ed Welburn, the first head of General Motors Design was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. Guy Bird, editor of Car Design Review X, said of Welburn’s accolade: “Ed is a truly special winner of our 10th Lifetime Achievement Award. He became the first African-American to work in General Motors’ design department and throughout his 44-year career at GM broke through ceiling after ceiling.”

Click here for our 2023 New Car Awards winners…

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