2024 Car Design Award: Kia Bags Prestigious Brand Design Language Title For 'Opposites United'

Kia has won the prestigious title of 'Brand Design Language' for 'Opposites United' at the 2024 Car Design Award. The South Korean automaker revealed its design language 'Opposites United' in 2021, which draws inspiration from the contrasts seen in nature and humanity. The philosophy aligns design concepts and consumer value across all of Kia's leading industry vehicles, supporting the company's mission to develop environmentally friendly mobility solutions. While praising the uniqueness of the Korean automaker's design language, the juries of Car Design Award 2024 stated ''With its Opposites United philosophy, Kia design has taken a non-conformist approach to induce change, unafraid of taking risks. Unexpected at first sight, Kia’s new models break the mould with long-established aesthetic parameters to introduce a new and modern formal language. Relentless innovation to establish a new identity.''

Since its establishment in the 1980s, the Car Design Award has grown to become a global honour bestowed upon the design teams responsible for significant contributions to the evolution of automotive design. The Car Design Award consists of three categories: Concept Cars, Production Cars, and Brand Design Language. A panel of specialists, including people from some of the world's most well-known automotive publications, select the winners of the prestigious award in each category. For the 2024 edition, as mandated, the jury shortlisted ten production car projects, 10 concept cars (unveiled between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023), and five companies that made a strong impression with their official design language for the product line.

Kia won the prestigious 'Brand Design Language' honour, while BMW and Volvo won the titles of Concept Cars and Production Cars for their Vision Neue Klasse concept and the Volvo EX30, respectively.

2024 Car Design Awards: Jury Members

The esteemed Jury for the 2024 Car Design Award includes:

India: Dhruv Behl, AutoX, Founder & Managing Editor
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
Italy: Silvia Baruffaldi, Auto&Design, Editor
United Kingdom: Andy Franklin, Top Gear, Creative Director
Spain: Juan Carlos Payo Calderon, Mobilitas Group, General Director

The 2024 Car Design Awards were held at Milan's famed ADI Design Museum during Milano Design Week. The event started with an exclusive "Living in the Car" Talk featuring Rossella Guasco, (Vice President of C&M Design Stellantis Europe), Francesca Sangalli, (Head of Color&Trim and Concept&Strategy Seat Cupra), Stefano Piontini, (Partner at Vudafieri Saverino Partners Shanghai), and Carlo Ammirati, (Sustainability Director & Innovation Manager Alcantara).