AUTOBEST organization celebrates the 10th anniversary Articles - Auto News

The Bucharest 2011 festivity awarded top executives and PR people supporting the AUTOBEST project during the first 10 years

The 10th edition of AUTOBEST AWARDS festivity took place on February 4-th 2011, at Toma Caragiu hall of the Bulandra theatre, a legendary cultural scene of Romania. AUTOBEST changed dramatically the theatre hall in order to accommodate a 100 seated people gala event. For the first time, alongside the members of the jury, top executives from the car industry, international guests, key executives from the Romanian auto industry, several top European executives and PR officers joined the event to be awarded with "10 Anniversary Diploma of Honor.

"We decided to award all the relevant persons from the industry who supported Autobest from the very beginning. It is a 10 Anniversary Diploma. It is only once in 10 years. For the next one, we will wait another 10 years, Ilia Seliktar, AUTOBEST President stated.

Allan Rushforth, Hyundai Europe COO; Carl Peter Forster, TATA Motors CEO; Chris Lacey, Former leader of Opel in AUTOBEST region; Christian Esteve, the former Renault Euromed and Chairman of Dacia; Daniel Nacass, Mitsubishi Motors Europe PR Manager; Frank Klaas – Jaguar Land Rover Global Head of Communications; Ian Slater – Vicepresident, Communications & Public Affairs for Ford of Europe; Jadran Soldic – PR Fiat Group for AUTOBEST region; JJ Delaruwiere, PR Renault group; JC Lievens, former Senior Vicepresident of KIA Europe; John Fleming – Ford Motor Company executive vice president; Liviu Ion – Communication Director Dacia Group Renault; Luca De Meo – Head of marketing VW Group and VW brand; Marc Kempe – Chevrolet Europe Director of Public Relations; Osamu Masuko – Mitsubishi Motors President; Paola Gandolfo – International Media Relations Fiat Group; Peter Erhardt – Director Communications, European NSCs & Export Markets at Opel; Richard Gadeselli – vice president of Fiat Group communications; Silviu Sepciu - Chief of the Communication Department; Stefan Henrich –Communication Director of Hyundai Europe; Sylvie Blanchet – PR Renault Europe; Wayne Brannon – President of Chevrolet Europe; Zoltan Kaszas - Manager Public Relations Chevrolet Europe are the personalities who received the "10th Anniversary Diploma of honor.

In accepting the Diploma, Daniel Nacass said: Thanks to the AUTOBEST Jury we learned many things about this region. We discovered a great potential for our brand and we did a good job here. It is not by coincidence that today Poland is our third market in Europe! On his turn, Akinori Nakanishi, President of Mitsubishi Europe, representing Osamu Masuko, the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation said: I extend to you our heartiest congratulations on the 10th anniversary of AUTOBEST. From our President and myself I wish you continuous success and prosperity for the AUTOBEST project in the years to come.

Dacia Duster was voted "AUTOBEST 2010. With a total of 863 points, the winner overtook Opel Meriva with only 41 points - 822 points and Renault Fluence coming third, with a total of 717 points. Citroen C3 came on 4th with 654 points followed by KIA Venga with 544 points. No less than 10 members of the Jury voted Duster as the winner, other 4 gave the first place to Meriva and one for Fluence. (for detailed results, see Final Ranking in www.autobest.org )

"I am proud and honored to receive, as President of Dacia and Euromed Region Leader of Renault, this important award for the Dacia Duster model. The honor is even greater since the award is conferred by a rigorous and demanding jury, made up of professionals of motoring journalism from no less than 15 European countries. Autobest award pays off a model that has already become a real success only few months after its launch. Duster is a success for Dacia and for Renault, but also for Romania – since Dacia Duster will become one of its best ambassadors all around the world. With more than 100,000 orders placed in less than nine months, Duster turned into a phenomenon, getting top places in the sales rankings for its category on the most demanding European markets such as Germany, France and Italy, but also Turkey, Poland and the Czech Republic. Dacia has become the pride of our clients and a symbol of the "SMART BUY attitude, said Jacques Chauvet, Renault Euromed leader and Chairman of Automobile Dacia in receiving the award.

Ilia Seliktar, the Autobest President, stated "Our AUTOBEST winner is probably a very expected one. Dacia Duster is making a revolution in the SUV segment, bringing democracy to a quite expensive league. We all agree that Duster fully deserves the prize, symbolizing the very meaning of our award.

"I'm very pleased to be here with you this evening to accept MANBEST 2010. Without the great Chevrolet team I would not have been here in front of you. I thank all of them for doing a great job in the company. I am always excited to come to AUTOBEST awards. It is a great event, celebrating the achievements of car industry. I also want to congratulate all the winners of this evening and to thank the AUTOBEST jury. Wayne Brennan, Chevrolet Europe President said receiving "MANBEST 2010 award.

"I'm very pleased to be here with you this evening to accept AUTOBEST's COMPANYBEST award on behalf of the VW group said Luca de Meo, top executive for marketing of VW group, in accepting the "COMPANYBEST 2010 award.

"I always say that emotions are a part of car design. It is exactly what I am trying to do in changing the KIA design. The new front design known as is one expression of this change. I want to thank to AUTOBEST Jurors for granting me the DESIGNBEST award for 2010. You have a great unique event in European media landscape. Congratulations! said Peter Schreyer, Senior Vice-president Design KIA Motors Corporation.

"I feel very proud to be the first woman getting such an important prize and I hope in the years to come I'll be able to justify your trust in me and to be able to make you feel more honored with my future results", Turkish Burcu Centikaya, the winner of SPORTBEST 2010, said.

"Ford Motor Company was the first company to introduce in standard the safety belt. Ford also had other firsts in this field. Now we are the first with an airbag in the safety belt. I am really delighted to receive this award and I thank to AUTOBEST Jury said Henrik Nenzen – Managing Director Ford Romania- National Sales Company, in receiving the SAFETYBEST 2010 award.

I am proud to receive the ECOBEST 2010 award for the Nissan LEAF. We started to deliver the world first mass market electric car in USA, Japan and recently to European markets. We, at Nissan Europe, thank AUTOBEST Jury for giving us such an important award. It is a recognition of our work in this field stated Bernard Loire – Vicepresident of Nissan Europe.

"TECHNOBEST 2010 award went to Fiat Powertrain Technologies and to receive it, during the festivity, was present Mr. Aldo Marangoni - FPT Vice President.

The AUTOBEST evening was accompanied with a great artistic performance coming from the American Jazz band "East Coast lead by Damian Draghici, several times EMI awards winner. Andi Moisescu, one of the most appreciated Romanian tv stars was the MC of the evening. Allan Rushforth, Hyundai Europe COO was calling the Gala a "super evening. I'm sure that everybody is applauding Autobest's 10 years Anniversary event. I want to be amongst the first to congratulate AUTOBEST organization on a smart, well choreographed evening that in terms of style and positioning now occupies a unique spot in the industry calendar after last night’s party - well done!

The AUTOBEST Jury would like to thank all the readers from the region for encouraging the project. Also, we would like to thank the PR officers responsible within the automotive industry for providing all the support in organizing meetings and drive tests of the new products.