2025 CAR DESIGN AWARDS GO TO LOTUS, FERRARI AND RENAULT

The design teams of Lotus for the Theory 1 concept car, of Ferrari for the 12Cilindri and Renault for its Brand Design Language are the winners of the 2025 Car Design Award, the Oscar of world car design established in 1984 by the Auto&Design magazine.

Event photos downloadable here   (Ph: ©lunasoft_video)

The award ceremony was held in Milan at the renowned ADI Design Museum today, April 8^th, during the Milano Design Week. The event was opened by an exclusive “Emotional connections” talk with Domitilla Dardi, Design Historian, Andrea Rosati, Head of Strategic Design at Lotus Cars, Joaquin Garcia, Head of Design at Italdesign and Eugenio Lolli, Chairman & CEO of Alcantara.

The Car Design Award includes three categories: “Concept Cars”, “Production Cars” and “Brand Design Language”, the latter an award given to the design team that has stood out for the consistency and transversality of its brand’s formal language across its whole product range.

The winners of the 2025 edition, chosen from a shortlist of ten finalists, are:

• in the Concept Cars category, the Lotus design team for the Theory 1 project
• in second place the DS design team for the SM Tribute
• in third place, tied, the BMW team for the Skytop, Jaguar for the Type 00 and Renault for the Emblème
• for Production Cars, the Ferrari Design for its 12Cilindri
• in second place the team of Bugatti design for the Tourbillon
• on the third step of the podium, the Kia team for the EV3
• for the Brand Design Language section, the design language of the whole brand, the award went to the Renault design team
• the Dacia and Hyundai design teams are tied in second place while Cupra and Genesis are in third place

“In its tenth edition following its relaunch in the 2000s, the Car Design Award remains the prize for excellence in automotive design, highly coveted by all creative teams and an opportunity for the entire automotive design community to meet and debate”, said Silvia Baruffaldi, Editor of Auto&Design and President of the Award Jury. Again this year, the Car Design Award continues its prestigious collaboration with Alcantara, partner of the event. The exclusive trophies, the work of ERRE Company, were created this year by combining materials used in automotive interiors: Alcantara, metal, wood.

Ben Payne, Vice President of Design Group Lotus

Flavio Manzoni, Head of Ferrari Design, and the Ferrari design team

Gilles Vidal, Vice president Renault Design

The winners were chosen by a jury of experts, all journalists from leading international automotive publications, for an objective assessment of the global car design scene:

Brazil: Paulo Campo Grande, Quatro Rodas, Editor

China: Jun Miao, MJ CarShow, Chief Editor

South Korea: Kibeom Kim, Roadtest, Publisher & Editor in Chief

Europe: Luca Ciferri, Automotive News Europe, Editor & Associate Publisher

France: Stéphane Meunier, L’Automobile Magazine, Editor in Chief

Germany: Michael Köckritz, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director Ramp.Space

Japan: Tetsuya Kato, Car Graphic, Publisher

India: Dhruv Behl, AutoX, Founder & Managing Editor

Italy:  Silvia Baruffaldi, Auto&Design, Editor

United Kingdom: Andy Franklin, Top Gear, Creative Director

Spain: Juan Carlos Payo Calderon, Mobilitas Group, General Director

The trophies designed by Erre Company

CONCEPT CARS, Lotus Theory 1 

“The Theory 1 concept not only takes inspiration from three iconic Lotus past models – Type 72, Esprit, and Eleven – but is also faithful to Colin Chapman’s endless research to reduce parts -and thus weight. Innovation, sustainability, advanced technology and an immersive driving experience: just looking at it makes your heart race.”

PRODUCTION CARS, Ferrari 12Cilindri

“The design of the 12Cilindri encapsulates the historical essence of the Ferrari V12s of the Fifties and Sixties, revisited taking into account the aerodynamic requirements that today are a science and no longer just an intuition. An indissoluble link with tradition that looks to the future and has led this project to unite two souls, sportiness and elegance, to create an out-of-the-box icon.”

BRAND DESIGN LANGUAGE, Renault

“Renault Design has embarked on a bold renewal path, combining a strong visual identity with the ability to innovate and integrate sustainable solutions. Its new design language stands out for its expressiveness and personality, both when applied to new models and when it reinterprets the icons of its past in a contemporary way to promote electric mobility.”