Chinese Car Wins a Concept COTY

Taking the award for the Chinese automaker is Chery’s TX concept SUV, designed in the company’s Shanghai design studio. Not only is it a first for Chery, it’s also the first time Car Design News has awarded a design from a Chinese studio.

The Chery TX had its debut at the 2012 Beijing auto show and made an impression during a Car Design Night at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March attended by 350 global car designers.

Car Design News' Owen Ready presented the award after a two-month voting period. The Chery TX collected 34.7% of the votes cast by the 3500 participants, including magazine readers.

The Chery TX’s rivals in the concept category were Peugeot’s Onyx and the Citroen Numero 9.

Chery’s design team said the TX SUV was inspired by water in a pursuit to find the harmony of man and nature. A spokesman for the automaker said: “Every detail of the design makes people feel the rhythm of water and the primitive power of nature.”

This was the first new design to flow from the Chery studio since a restructuring of the company and realignment of its focus as well as a demonstration of its increasing research and development capabilities.

The publication’s Best Production Car of the Year award went to the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe which had its debut at the 2012 Geneva auto show.