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The BMW Group collects many design awards.

Awards showered upon BMW and MINI Design - BMW Group pockets over a dozen coveted design trophies
05/16/2003

Once again, the outstanding role played by the BMW Group in product and vehicle design has been rewarded with a plethora of prizes. The Munich automobile manufacturer was awarded another gold medal for outstanding design by the renowned ranking list "Ranking:Design". Here design.net AG evaluates a total of 19 national and regional design competitions every year and compiles a hit list of the 100 best according to the number of the prizes and rankings achieved.
In the current 2002/2003 evaluation, BMW takes top ranking in the category "Transportation and Special-Purpose Vehicles" as well as under the heading "Leisure, Sports and Play" - and in the first discipline it even had a considerable point lead over the next-ranked competitor.

In the "Hall of Fame" which "Ranking:Design" published for the first time, summing up all the awards given since 1997, BMW topped both categories with a considerable margin.

BMW's unique leadership position in "Ranking:Design" is equivalent to a knighthood: in the field, the hit list is regarded as the most important independent gauge of internationally acclaimed design prowess.

This spectacular ranking is only one of a whole series of honours BMW has recently chalked up. Since the start of the year more than a dozen prestigious prizes have been conferred upon BMW's creative team.

Hanover's iF International Forum Design GmbH bestowed the renowned iF design award 2003 upon six BMW products.

In the category "Transportation Design" the new Z4 roadster, the 7 Series, the MINI Cooper S and the BMW motorcycles R 1200 CL and F 650 CS were singled out for honours. In addition, the BMW men's wristwatch won the coveted trophy in the "Product Design" discipline.

For many decades the iF design award, presented in March, has been regarded as one of the world's major design competitions. This year the jury of international top designers awarded 423 prizes in a total of six disciplines.

The Munich automobile manufacturer also achieved top rankings from the famed "red dot" design award, presented annually by the North Rhine-Westphalia design centre.

Of a total of nine products which BMW submitted to this year's competition, eight were given the famous dot. Two of them, the MINI Trolley Bag and the MINI City Bag, even collected the especially coveted award "red dot: best of the best" for top design quality. Both products were developed as part of the MINI Collection in the Munich studio of the BMW subsidiary DesignworksUSA.

Once again, the "red dot" for top design quality was awarded to the BMW Z4, which stands out for its striking lines, and the imposing Two-Wheel Cruiser
R 1200 CL, as well as the lifestyle products BMW Slidecarver, MINI Skater, MINI sunglasses and the MINI wristwatch.

With a good 1500 submissions from 28 countries, the "red dot design award" is also one of the world's largest design competitions. The red dot, awarded on June 30 in Essen's Aalto Theater, is regarded worldwide as a seal of design quality. The jury, made up of prominent designers, examines both the design and the implementation of new technologies in a total of eleven product groups. This year it awarded 339 red dots for top design quality. The "red dot: best of the best" is awarded only three times within each product group.

"We feel confirmed in our standards of innovative premium design," BMW chief designer Chris Bangle comments on the deluge of awards.

He is especially pleased by the fact that lifestyle products designed in-house met with such unanimous approval from the jurors as important components of the BMW and MINI brand identity. Especially the MINI accessories, which echo the unmistakable design of the cult car, combining imagination with a touch of humour, seem to have suited the jury's tastes to a tee.