Press Release 2 - AutoBest 2009

BUCURESTI - 9 decembrie 2008

Comunicat tip General in Media / Publicitate

Renault Symbol / Thalia wins “AUTOBEST 2009”

•Mark Adams elected “DESIGNBEST 2008”



Renault Symbol / Thalia was voted “AUTOBEST 2009”. With a total of 879 points, the winner overtook Ford Fiesta with only 49 points, making this one of the closest victories in the history of Autobest. Dacia Sandero came third, with a total of 700 points. 10 members of the Jury selected Symbol as the winner, and other 4 gave the first place to Ford Fiesta. Dacia Sandero managed to obtain just one no. 1 position. Mitsubishi Lancer came on 4th place, with 661 points and Chevy Aveo on 5th, collecting 530 points.

A fair assessment between winners cannot be done just by comparing the points. Four years ago, only 12 members were in the AUTOBEST Jury. For this edition, there are 15 motoring journalists. Last year we introduced a new index for a fair comparison: average percentage of points granted by the Jury members for a car out of the total no of points. In 2006, KIA Rio managed to take an average of 24,5% out of the total available no of points. A year after the biggest index was reached, Opel Corsa won with 25% points out of the maximum points. Last year, Fiat Linea won with 23,5%. Finally, Renault Symbol collected an index of 24,4% of the available points.

“As the rankings show, it was not easy for Symbol to win. The new Renault model proved to be an overall winner with an excellent value for money, a good car, specially designed for the needs of regular customers in the Autobest region. The new Fiesta was a fantastic contender close to the winner. Dacia Sandero performed maybe less than expected for a budget car designed also for emerging markets and not only. Finally, we can only have one winner. The new Symbol is now representing the best buy car in the Autobest region, continuing an important success featured by the previous generation of this car”, Mr. Dan Vardie, AUTOBEST Chairman, stated.

Mark Adams was voted “DESIGNBEST 2008” for his great work leading GM Europe design. The author of “sculptural architecture with German precision” is nowadays enjoying the Opel Insignia European success. Nevertheless, the British designer is prepared to deliver new examples of his philosophy very soon with the Opel Astra and Meriva. As a coordinator of SAAB design, he is also conducting an important evolution of the Swedish brand.

Autobest Jury voted Nicos Thomas, the young Cypriot motorsport talent, to become “SPORTBEST 2008”. After Robert Kubica, two years ago and last year winner and Milos Pavlovic in 2007, Nicos is another proof of talent coming from our region. He is already the winner for «Pirelli Star Driver» in our region.

AUTOBEST among emerging markets organization appointed a new member to represent Croatia. Matko Jovic is a well known motoring writer in his country. He is the Editor in Chief of Autopartner magazine and also a member of „Van of the Year” jury been involved in assesing the commercial vehicle sector. He is a mechanical engineer at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture.


In electing the AUTOBEST car winner, the Jury made its decision taking into consideration 13 criteria, each of them counting a specific number of points that reflect a different importance in the final vote of each car. The price, with 60 points out of a total of 240 available to be distributed among the finalists, is the most important. Other sensitive issues for the region, like distribution network, service and spare parts availability, consumption, versatility and boot capacity, count for 20 points each. All of these specific criteria for the customers in emerging countries totalize more than a half of the total number of points. Other issues, common for all European countries, like new technologies, handling, dynamics, environmental friendly, are less important. The design, evaluated with 30 points maximum, becomes more and more important for the clients in emerging countries.

The eighth edition of AUTOBEST AWARDS FESTIVITY will take place at the beginning of February 2009 in Cyprus. Following the tradition, AUTOBEST International Jury grants the awards in different country every year. Last year, the awards festivity was held in Istanbul, Turkey. Besides the AUTOBEST winners, in Cyprus are also invited important people and decision-makers from the automotive industry in Cyprus and Europe as well, politicians, stars, sports people and well-known personalities.

AUTOBEST Jury thanks the readers from the region for encouraging the project and the PR responsible in the automotive industry for providing all the support in organizing meetings and drive tests of the new products.

AUTOBEST organization is the only international independent jury focusing on best-buy choice for mainstream customers. This year, AUTOBEST members of the Jury are coming from 15 countries in the region, and represent a virtual market with more than 300 million people. Each member of the Jury is an outstanding motoring journalist, a respected voice in his country. AUTOBEST is the second largest independent motoring Jury in Europe.



Despre Automedia

Jury Member name
Chevy AveoDacia SanderoFord FiestaMitsubishi LancerRenault Symbol/Thalia
Matko Jovic-Croatia2469604047
Ilia Seliktar- Bulgaria3149584458
Krumislav Barzov- Macedonia4041525057
Rudi Karpat- Slovakia4041554361
Rade Radulovich - Yugoslavia3641543574
Okan Altan-Turkey3850564848
Andrei Taflan- Romania3655564548
Vladimir Rybecky- Czech Republic3349574160
Petros Soutzis- Cyprus4239536145
Piotr Frankowski - Poland2857573266
Oleg Vasilevski- Ukraine4941515049
Ziga Colja- Slovenia3542574165
Max Kadakov- Russia4148504952
Boris Jeno - Hungary4042464666
John Stravopoulous- Greece1736683683


Total points/ car530700830661879

Allma Somkereki
somkereki@automedia.ro

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