The Polestar 4 has won the coveted Production Car Design of the Year award, as voted for by a global panel of esteemed professional car designers and revealed in the new edition of the Car Design Review, published by Car Design News.
This year’s 16-strong judging group includes the heads of design at Audi, Ford, Lamborghini, Lucid and Mercedes, among many others. No judge is allowed to vote for their own designs, nor even for cars from other brands in their group, so the voting process is clean and the awards credible. 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. The Polestar 4 is distinctive and different, a statement of intent that is tasteful and carefully considered down to the last detail.”
Polestar’s design director, Max Missoni, who picked up the award at the Car Design News People Awards event in London on Thursday 7th December, commented: “We strive for the less obvious, the more intellectual approach. In 2024 we will deliver Polestar 4 – and Polestar 3 – around the world, and so with two more cars added to our line-up we will see a pivotal year for the brand. It’s such an exciting time for us.”
Beyond Polestar’s winning design, the 208-page Car Design Review X yearbook also includes a run-down of the nine other shortlisted production car designs, the Concept Car Design of the Year award winner and its runners-up, the Lifetime Achievement Award feature, plus in-depth articles on how artificial intelligence, user experience and academic training might affect the car designers of the future. Also shining a light on emerging global student talent, the enduring art of clay modelling and featuring brilliant bespoke photography, artwork, tactile material inserts and fold-out illustration sections, this celebratory edition aims to inform and delight in equal measure, while staying firmly editorially independent.
The voting results in full, and in order:
Top Ten Production Car Designs of the Year:
1. Polestar 4
2. Kia EV9
3. Volvo EX30
4. Jeep Avenger
5. HiPhi Y
6. Lamborghini Revuelto
7. Ford Explorer
8. Zeekr 009
9. Aion Hyper SSR
10. MG Cyberster