world car awards the road ahead · 2019-11-07 · ces highlights 2016 the road to world car takes...

THE ROAD AHEADW O R L D C A R A W A R D S

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Mike Rutherford

Vice-Chairman, World Car Awards

Mike Rutherford, WCA Vice-Chairman, focuses on

the brands, global vehicle manufacturing groups,

continents and countries that have enjoyed the most

success so far in the 2016 World Car Awards.

Car awards don’t come bigger - or more sought-after - than

those presented by WCA every Springtime in America’s

most exciting city.

Trouble is, there are only five large and heavy trophies

up for grabs at our prize-giving ceremony in New York at

the end of March. And scores of major car makers plus

countless smaller but still important niche manufacturers

in all corners of the globe are desperate to get their hands

on them.

But at this delicate, tense, deliciously exciting stage of the

2016 competition, the cold and harsh truth is that only 14

manufacturers from seven car producing nations are still

in the running for WCA glory at our awards ceremony on

the morning of the second press day (March 24) at the New

York International Auto Show.

World Car Awards Vice-Chairman, Mike Rutherford

For the World Car Awards programme, its hundreds of

media and VIP guests, plus those 14 quietly confident

but nervous manufacturers representing just seven car

producing nations, March 24 2016 will be a bit like the

automotive equivalent of Olympic Finals day.

Every car or car manufacturer who has made it through

to this late stage of the WCA process can consider itself

victorious in the sense that it has officially qualified as a

2016 WCA Finalist - and nobody can ever take that fact

away from such vehicles and their makers.

But there’s a difference between being a worthy finalist

and an outright winner of a World Car Awards trophy.

Mazda is a no fuss, less is more company that should never

be under-estimated. And as Table 1 (next page) suggests,

of all the firms in all the world it’s this one that’s surely one

of the favourites to return from NYC to its home town of

Hiroshima in possession of at least one World Car trophy.

After all, the Japanese maker of urban, family and sports

cars has qualified with more finalists (four) than any other

brand.

But Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes and Toyota

(all on three) are joint second favourites, with Chevrolet

(two) just behind them, and Cadillac, Honda, Hyundai,

Skoda, Volkswagen and Volvo the outsiders (with one

apiece).

But here’s another way of looking at it. In terms of car

manufacturing groups rather that individual marques -

JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) is better placed than any other in

the world for a WCA win or wins as it has qualified with an

unprecedented six finalists.

JLR enjoyed its best ever year in 2015 when it became the

fastest-growing group on the planet for vehicle sales. But

as 70-plus World Car jurors across the globe have recently

decreed via the ballot box, Jags and Land Rovers aren’t

just selling better than ever - they’re also stronger than

ever contenders for World Car trophies in NYC.

As for continents and countries, it’s an astonishing fact

that at the awards ceremony, Europe will have more

finalist cars than all the other parts of the world combined.

And Germany just manages to edge out increasingly strong

Japan and England the underdog, as the nation with the

most finalists.

Not that any of this guarantees World Car wins for the

biggest, strongest, firms, regions or countries.

Hyundai and Skoda are welcome newcomers to the WCA

Finals. And, respectively, they might - just might - further

upset the global ‘automotive establishment’ by departing

New York and returning to South Korea and the Czech

Republic armed with coveted World Car trophies.

Frankly, I wouldn’t bet against it.

Mazda is surely one of the favourites to bring home a WCA trophy

Hyundai is a welcome newcomer to the WCA finals

T H E R O A D T O W O R L D C A R T A K E S M A N Y P A T H S

F I N A L I S T C A R S P E R

B R A N D

M A Z D A 4

A U D I 3

B M W 3

J A G U A R 3

L A N D R O V E R 3

M E R C E D E S - B E N Z 3

T O Y O T A 3

C H E V R O L E T 2

C A D I L L A C 1

H O N D A 1

H Y U N D A I 1

S K O D A 1

V O L K S W A G E N 1

V O L V O 1

F I N A L I S T C A R S

P E R V E H I C L E

M A N U F A C T U R I N G

G R O U P

J L R 6 ( U K )

V W 5 ( G E R M A N Y )

M A Z D A 4 ( J A P A N

B M W 3 ( G E R M A N Y )

D A I M L E R 3 ( G E R M A N Y )

G M 3 ( U S A )

T O Y O T A 3 ( J A P A N )

H O N D A 1 ( J A P A N )

H Y U N D A I 1 ( S O U T H

K O R E A )

V O L V O 1 ( S W E D E N )


C O N T I N E N T

E U R O P E 1 8

A S I A 9

N O R T H A M E R I C A 3


N A T I O N

G E R M A N Y 1 0

J A P A N 8

U K 6

U S A 3

C Z E C H R E P U B L I C 1

S O U T H K O R E A 1

S W E D E N 1


N A T I O N - P E R C E N T A G E

S H A R E

G E R M A N Y 3 3 . 3 %

J A P A N 2 6 . 7 %

U K 2 0 %

U S A 1 0 %

C Z E C H R E P U B L I C 3 . 3 %

S O U T H K O R E A 3 , 3 %

S W E D E N 3 . 3 %

THE STATE OF THE CAR FIRMS & CAR-PRODUCING NATIONS



M E R C E D E S - B E N Z

M E R C E D E S - A M G C

6 3 C O U P É – W O R L D

P E R F O R M A N C E C A R

M E R C E D E S - B E N Z G L E

C O U P E – W O R L D L U X U R Y

C A R

M E R C E D E S - B E N Z G L C

– W O R L D C A R O F T H E

Y E A R

S K O D A

S K O D A S U P E R B –

W O R L D C A R O F T H E

Y E A R

T O Y O T A

T O Y O T A P R I U S – W O R L D

C A R O F T H E Y E A R

T O Y O T A M I R A I

( H Y D R O G E N F U E L C E L L )

– W O R L D G R E E N C A R

T O Y O T A P R I U S ( H Y B R I D )

– W O R L D G R E E N C A R

V O L K S W A G E N

V O L K S W A G E N P A S S A T

G T E – W O R L D G R E E N

C A R

V O L V O

V O L V O X C 9 0 – W O R L D

L U X U R Y C A R

H Y U N D A I

H Y U N D A I T U C S O N –

W O R L D C A R O F T H E

Y E A R

J A G U A R

J A G U A R X E – W O R L D

C A R O F T H E Y E A R A N D

W O R L D C A R D E S I G N O F

T H E Y E A R

J A G U A R X F – W O R L D

L U X U R Y C A R

L A N D R O V E R

L A N D R O V E R D I S C O V E R Y

S P O R T – W O R L D C A R O F

T H E Y E A R A N D W O R L D

C A R D E S I G N O F T H E

Y E A R

R A N G E R O V E R

S P O R T S V R – W O R L D

P E R F O R M A N C E C A R

M A Z D A

M A Z D A C X - 3 – W O R L D



T H E Y E A R

M A Z D A M X - 5 – W O R L D



T H E Y E A R

A U D I

A U D I A 4 S E D A N / A U D I

A 4 A V A N T – W O R L D C A R

O F T H E Y E A R

A U D I Q 7 – W O R L D

L U X U R Y C A R

A U D I R 8 C O U P E –

W O R L D P E R F O R M A N C E

C A R

B M W

B M W 3 3 0 E P L U G - I N -

H Y B R I D – W O R L D G R E E N

C A R

B M W 7 S E R I E S – W O R L D

L U X U R Y C A R

B M W X 1 – W O R L D C A R

O F T H E Y E A R

G E N E R A L M O T O R S

C A D I L L A C C T 6 – W O R L D

C A R D E S I G N O F T H E

Y E A R

C H E V R O L E T C A M A R O –


C A R

C H E V R O L E T V O L T –

W O R L D G R E E N C A R

H O N D A

H O N D A C I V I C T Y P E R I –


C A R

2 0 1 6 F I N A L I S T S B Y

M A N U F A C T U R E R

CES HIGHLIGHTS 2016


B Y P E T E R L Y O N , C H A I R M A N O F T H E W O R L D C A R A W A R D S

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las

Vegas, the world’s top technology companies unveiled

their coolest new products from virtual reality to smart

home gadgets, and autonomous driving ideas to the latest

in electric vehicle hardware. Let’s take a brief look at some

of the automotive highlights.

In a sign of the times, CES’s focus has changed over the past

several years to the extent that it is now vying with NAIAS

as a global stage to launch new automotive technology and

even new models - like the Chevy Bolt electric car.

For those buyers who can’t splurge on a Tesla, the 4-door

Bolt hatchback is being hailed as revolutionary in that it

can travel over 200 miles on a charge, costs less than

$30,000 (with tax credits) and will go on sale in 2017.

Meanwhile, Ford kicked off its press conference at CES by

revealing plans to expand aggressively into the $5.4 trillion

transportation services market, having struck a new deal

with Amazon’s Echo and Alexa voice-recognition service.

The company also shared plans for autonomous vehicles

using LiDAR sensors, vision, ultrasonic and radar to sense

a car’s external environment.

Volkswagen’s new CEO, Dr. Herbert Diess, appeared on

the CES stage with a long apology to the American people

for the company’s problematic emission systems issues.

Diess then demonstrated Volkswagen’s vision for cars of

the future.

Las Vegas challenging Detroit for the cream of new concept reveals

Chevrolet Bolt hatchback: “Revolutionary”

Dr. Herbert Diess on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show

Precariously perched under a huge metal structure, Audi’s

virtual dashboard using AMOLED screens and haptic

feedback was impressive.

Mercedes Benz unveiled a concept car called the Intelligent

Aerodynamic Automobile (IAA). In a vehicle boasting

features that reminded onlookers of the protagonist’s

car in Luc Besson’s “Taxi,” this show car transforms into

aerodynamic mode extending its tail by 15 inches, and

expands its wheel rims outwards when it reaches 50mph.

Faraday Future captured the stand out award at CES

this year for its outrageously styled FFZERO1, a 1,000

horsepower electric concept car that supposedly will

leap from zero to 60 mph in under three seconds. But the

company also raised eyebrows for showing a “hypercar”

that has no working prototype. Indeed, the car was

criticized by some local media as a “hypecar” and not a

“hypercar.” Faraday’s dubious funding was also revealed

to come from Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting with news

that the company has plans to break ground on a $1 billion

factory north of Las Vegas in the coming weeks.

And last but not least, who could resist the world’s first

Jetson’s-like one-manned drone “ehang 184” from Chinese

company Ehang? It has four arms and 8 propellers, features

a top speed of 62mph, and pre-programmable automated

flight from point A to B. The ultimate in autonomous

driving, oops flying.


Volkswagen’s e-Golf Touch is a prototype electric vehicle

featuring a 9.2 inch touch infotainment system that takes

input via voice and gestures. Looking further into the

future, the Volkswagen BUDD-e is a long-range all-electric

microbus developed from the original VW Bus.

It does away with door handles and can be opened using

voice command or hand gestures. In addition to a unique

rear-mounted “drop-box,” which works like a 24-hour

mail box allowing packages to be deposited anywhere,

on-board apps feed connectivity to the driver’s smart

home in a process that can unlock home doors for guests

from an owner’s car, check the contents of a fridge or put

appliances in “away mode” when you drive away.

Toyota showed off a variety of concept cars including its

continued push towards hydrogen-powered vehicles with

the FCV Plus. This fuel cell concept is designed to run on

hydrogen, but also capable of using hydrogen from an

external tank to generate electricity for a home or office.

The company’s research boss showed rare brevity in

reference to autonomous vehicles by stating that much of

the science to get fully-autonomous cars on the road has

yet to be developed.

Fiat Chrysler was all about in-car connectivity, unveiling the

latest version of their Uconnect system that supports both

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A new Dodge Charger

with custom law enforcement displays and controls was

also featured.

ehang 184 drone: Who could resist?

Faraday Future captured the stand out award for its FFZERO1

AUTONOMOUS CARS: SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR


B Y G E R R Y M A L L O Y , W O R L D C A R A W A R D S D I R E C T O R A N D P R E S I D E N T

Autonomous cars are coming. On that point virtually

everyone in the industry agrees.

But beyond that point there is very little agreement,

particularly in terms of when they will arrive and just what

form they will take when they do.

If many mass media reports are to be believed, they’ll be

here by 2020 if not before. Some have proclaimed they’re

here already.

They can be forgiven for such pronouncements for, in many

cases, they are driven by the hyperbole of automakers, or

in some cases ‘wannabe’ automakers, themselves.

Several manufacturers have publicly set a 2020 target for

the technology, raising collective expectations. And the

use of terms such as “Autopilot” for the latest iteration of

Tesla’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), for

example, confuses the issue further.

What is not being said, at least not very loudly, is that there

are multiple levels of autonomy, at least in the current

lexicon, and what is being touted for 2020 or before is a

long way from the fully driverless, go-anywhere in-any-

weather vehicle that the term evokes in many minds.

In a presentation at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, Gill Pratt, CEO

of the recently-established, billion-dollar funded, Toyota

Research Institute, summed the situation up concisely:

“These systems (at their current stage of development)

can only handle certain speed ranges, certain weather

conditions, certain street complexity, or certain traffic.”

He added that, “Most of what has been collectively

accomplished has been relatively easy because most

driving is easy. Where we need autonomy to help us is

when the driving is difficult.”

To expand on that point, the U.S. National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a hierarchy

Dr Gill Pratt: Toyota Research Institute CEO

Some of the challenges to getting there are technical –

things like a lack of international protocols and standards

that allow vehicles to communicate with each other. And

mapping technology sufficient to locate the vehicles

precisely without relying on visual cues, particularly in bad

weather. Others are regulatory, or even ethical.

One of the problems already encountered with autonomous

test vehicles is that they may be too cautious. By sticking

rigorously to speed limits and traffic laws, they’re out

of step with other traffic and may become targets for

collisions with other vehicles.

Those closest to the challenges are, perhaps, the most

cautious in predicting when they’ll all be overcome.

Axel Gern, head of the autonomous vehicle department

at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North

America, is optimistic about the near-term potential for

autonomous operation in prescribed highway driving

conditions. But when asked about full autonomy in dense

city environments, he opined that 10 years would be “a

very aggressive timeline!”

of vehicle automation, where ‘Level 0’ is no autonomy at all

and ‘Level 4’ – the highest level – is no driver input at all.

On a larger scale, the International Organization of Motor

Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) has established a similar

ladder of automation levels ranked from 0 to 5.

In either case, vehicles at the highest level will need

destination or navigation input but won’t require that a

driver be prepared to take control at any time during the

drive.

That initial input might even be provided remotely, so the

vehicle could operate without anyone on-board. They’ll

also be capable of operating on any road in any weather

conditions, at least to the same extent that a human driver

could.

We’re not there yet. Not even close, beyond some very

narrowly defined locales and circumstances.

Where we are, with today’s most sophisticated ADAS, is

well along the path to semi-autonomous driving – near

autonomous in many highway driving scenarios. But that

next step is a big one.


AUTONOMOUS DRIVING :TRENDS AND INSIGHTS


B Y B E R N D H I T Z E M A N N , C H I E F O P E R A T I N G O F F I C E R A T P R I M E R E S E A R C H U K

The exposure of autonomous driving substantially increased

over the last five years through special events, concept and

serial production cars. The steep learning curve over the last

three years also changed journalists‘ perceptions.

Legislation (on federal & national level)

Safety

Industry standards for Car-to-Car and Car-to-X communications

Ethics (e.g. system decision in crash situation)

Integrity of technology

Consumer acceptance

Infrastructure investments

Data protection

Extra costs

New players (like Apple, Google)

New business models & scenarios (e.g. car sharing)

Safety is the key to consumeracceptance of autonomous driving.

0 1 2 3

very challengingmixed

“From your point of view, how challenging are the following aspects to enable autonomous driving?”

2015Expert Panel

challengingLegislation is the BIGGEST challenge

to enable autonomous driving

?

The once most hated advanced driver assistance feature

“Autonomous Driving“ has turned into one of the most

admired features in 2015. In just three years, what a turn-

around!

Brake Assist Systems

Pre-Crash Systems

Intelligent Lights

Pedestrian Detection

Blind Spot Detection

Adaptive Cruise Control

Automated Crash Reporting

Traffic Sign Recognition

Attention Assist

Nightvision Systems

Lane Keeping Systems

Park Assist

Autonomous Driving

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

not important at all very importantmixed

“How important and desirable are the following ‘Advanced Driver Assistance’ features from your point of view?”

2014Expert Panel

2013Expert Panel

2015Expert Panel

Lesser degree of autonomy

“Systems became much better in recent years”

Strongly safety-related

?

EMISSIONS WAKE-UP CALL – CRISIS OR

OPPORTUNITY?


B Y S I D D H A R T H V I N A Y A K P A T A N K A R , W O R L D C A R A W A R D S D I R E C T O R

It has been several years now that the automobile industry

has had to keep up with tougher and tighter emission

norms in various markets.

That one player chose to do this by adopting unfair and

deceptive means is unfortunate. But the fallout of the

Volkswagen scandal has stayed relatively focussed on VW

itself and not the industry at large.

But the emissions crisis that the industry faced courtesy

of that scandal actually points to two very glaring facts –

one for the industry and one for the consumer – that had

perhaps gone unacknowledged until 2015.

The first is what more consumers now know – emission

regimes are not uniform the world over – and different

countries have norms that clamp down on different

components of tailpipe emissions.

Most consumers the world over are happy to simply know

that their vehicle meets local requirements – assuming

that it meant the vehicle is good on all kinds of possible

pollutants.

The VW scandal has highlighted how the US’s EPA

(Environmental Protection Agency) is tougher on nitrogen

oxides, while the European emission control has been

skewed towards carbon oxides.

Let us leave the political reasoning out of this disparity for

now – though there is one – and accept that this is also

led by consumer preferences in fuel type etc. This will get

more uniform now as more and more countries start to get

serious about holistic emission control that is not specific

to just one kind of noxious gas or particulate.

The second factor is perhaps one the industry needs to

start addressing quicker. So far we have had two parallel

worlds if you will. One which saw the developed world really

start to go hard on tailpipe emissions and the developing

countries staying far behind.

The rationale was that they needed to work their way –

or catch up as it were. But the Kyoto protocol and more

recently the Climate Conference in Paris have highlighted

the need for that catch up become accelerated.

The fallout of the Volkswagen scandal has stayed relatively

focussed on VW itself

A country like India has also seen a sudden change in

people’s perceptions that is leading government and

judiciary to take action against high levels of pollution.

Now it is very true that automobiles are not the sole

contributor to that pollution, but tighter emissions will now

become one of the steps these nations need to take to help

meet the commitments they made at Paris.

India for instance has already advanced its move to Euro

VI levels of emissions by 2020 instead of 2024 (India

currently has Euro IV norms in the top cities, and Euro III

elsewhere).

This will mean the automobile makers and oil refining

players will need to speed up their readiness – which in

turn means larger investments in the shorter term. India is

not the only such example.


Soon we will find similar requirements coming from the

likes of Indonesia, Vietnam, and perhaps the next such

wave would come from parts of Africa.

The fact that consumers will pressure such a change is no

longer surprising, and nor is it something manufacturers

wouldn’t already have thought of in their future planning.

That they may now need to do it sooner even by law – is

something that they will need to take into account very

quickly.

The ones who do will have huge benefits almost immediately,

and those who do not will lose share almost overnight. Is

that a wake-up call?

Perhaps it is – but having a more uniform production cycle

for all vehicular engines (and not just platforms and model

lines), will eventually begin to benefit industry with its

economies of scale much more, than the hurt it will feel in

the immediate term while it gets there.

Volkswagen 1.6 TDI engine

Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller at a recent VW press conference

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS WITH THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

wcoty.com or Beth Rhind, Executive Manager, [email protected]

PARTNERS

CONTACT

M A J O R P A R T N E R

P R E S E N T I N G P A R T N E R P R E S E N T I N G P A R T N E R

M E D I A P A R T N E R V O T E T A B U L A T I O N

H O S T P A R T N E R

PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PRIME RESEARCH NEWS

PRIME Ann Arbor (USA)

PRIME New York (USA)

PRIME São Paulo (Brazil)

PRIME Mainz (Germany)

PRIME Oxford (UK)

PRIME Zurich (Switzerland)

PRIME Shanghai (China)

PRIME Delhi-Gurgahon(India)

world car awards the road ahead · 2019-11-07 · ces highlights 2016 the road to world car takes...

Documents