The Citroen C3, a small crossover inbuilt India and Brazil, was the one mannequin from a European automaker to win a class on the 2023 Phrase Automotive of the Yr awards, in an version dominated by Hyundai and Kia.
The New C3, as it’s recognized in India, a totally completely different mannequin from the European C3 small hatchback, received within the city automobile class.
Hyundai received three awards with the Ioniq 6 midsize electrical sedan, together with finest design, finest electrical automobile and finest mannequin total.
This was the second consecutive triple win for Hyundai, because the Hyundai Ioniq 5 was final 12 months’s winner in the identical three classes.
Sister model Kia received the very best efficiency automobile award with the 585-hp, 260 kph EV6 GT midsize electrical crossover.
The world luxurious automobile award went to the U.S. automaker Lucid for its Air flagship sedan, a mannequin not bought in Europe.
5 of the six winners had been full-electric fashions; the sixth, the Citroen C3, was launched in India first with inside combustion engines, with a full electrical variant added not too long ago.
“We’re thrilled to obtain this prestigious honor two years in a row, which acknowledges the super skills and unrelenting efforts of everybody at Hyundai to carry EVs like Ioniq 6 to market,” Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Firm, stated in an announcement.
In receiving the award for design on the sidelines of the New York auto present on Wednesday, SangYup Lee, Government Vice President and Head of Hyundai International Design Heart, stated that “We all the time need to join with clients on an emotional stage and with the design of the Ioniq 6 now we have created really one among a sort.”
The World Automotive of the Yr jury contains 100 automotive journalists from shops in 32 international locations, together with Automotive Information Europe.
This worldwide C3 mannequin was designed, developed and produced by and for India, Asia and South America.
This award “acknowledges the relevance of our development technique in India, Asia and South America. As the primary mannequin in a household of three automobiles, the Citroen C3 combines robust, fashionable styling with a excessive stage of consolation, to not point out the connectivity and expertise that clients in these areas count on,” Citroen CEO Thierry Koskas stated in a launch.
To qualify within the city automobile class of the World Automotive of the Yr, a mannequin needs to be beneath 4,250 mm in size and be on sale in not less than two main markets (China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latin America, U.S.), and on not less than two separate continents.
The primary Citroen mannequin particularly designed and built-in in India, the C3 was launched in summer season of 2022, and has already bought nearly 7,000 within the nation. Citroen simply opened orders for the electrical ë-C3 in India.
In South America, the place C3 has been out there since October 2022, over 14,000 items have already been bought, Citroen stated.
This C3 for rising markets, a four-door crossover lower than 4 meters lengthy (to satisfy Indian tax guidelines), is the primary mannequin in Citroen’s Sensible Automotive vary, which is aimed toward rising and growing markets. Will probably be adopted by two extra fashions within the subsequent two years.
Wanting forward, fashions within the Sensible Automotive vary will even be constructed at Stellantis’ manufacturing facility in Kenitra, Morocco, which is able to see an funding of 300 million euros to double capability. The present Citroen C3 for Europe, which was launched in 2016, is constructed at Stellantis’ manufacturing facility in Trnava, Slovakia. Provider sources informed Automotive Information Europe that the Trnava plant will start constructing Sensible Automotive primarily based fashions for Citroen, Peugeot and Opel/Vauxhall from 2024.
In April 2022 Stellantis stated it would construct a brand new battery-electric automobile at its plant in Kragujevac, Serbia.
The EV, reportedly being primarily based on the Sensible Automotive structure, will change manufacturing of the Fiat 500L small minivan, Stellantis stated in an announcement.
The brand new, yet-to-be named, EV will go into manufacturing at the start of 2024, Stellantis stated. One other electrical automobile may be added at a later date, the corporate stated.