Borgward honored once again: Plus X Award for the Borgward BX7 TS

Borgward is gaining increasing recognition in the automotive world. The young company with a long tradition won a Red Dot Award for design at the beginning of the year, and the automaker’s Borgward BX7 series has now made a big impression with the judges for the Plus X Award: The athletic-dynamic SUV took home the world’s biggest innovation award for technology, sportiness, and lifestyle in the categories of Design, High Quality, Ergonomics, and Functionality. The BX7 was also issued a seal of quality as SUV of the Year 2016/2017. 

“The Borgward BX7 has demonstrated once again that we’re on the right track with our product strategy,” said Tom Anliker, Vice President Marketing, Sales & Service at Borgward Group AG, during the awards ceremony in Bonn today. “The Plus X Award is a very prestigious one for us because it honors both the outstanding design quality and the top-class functional performance displayed by our premiere model.”

The Plus X Award for innovation was presented for the 13th time in 2016. The award honors manufacturers of products that are exceptionally innovative and forward-looking in terms of technology, sportiness, and lifestyle aspects. The products that receive the award must display a specific “Plus X Factor” for added value as defined by a panel of independent trade journalists and high-ranking representatives from 26 economic sectors. 

Borgward BX7 TS: Top model in the SUV series

The Borgward BX7 that won the Plus X Award is a 4.70-meter long vehicle that was developed for the globally popular large/mid-sized SUV segment. The model makes a big impression with its extremely advanced communication and entertainment systems and an interior that’s unparalleled in this vehicle class. 

All of this is supplemented by Borgward’s typical outstanding design quality, which is based on the brand’s guiding principle of Modern Tradition. Outstanding safety is guaranteed by the intelligent and comprehensive PROTECT concept, which features groundbreaking dynamic handling and driver assistance systems that operate in an anticipatory manner and can help prevent collisions. 

If worst comes to worst, however, a very strong passenger compartment with precisely defined deformation zones, as well as passive restraint systems, provide reliable protection and can significantly mitigate the consequences of an accident.

The Borgward BX7 top-of-the-line model with the additional TS designation continues the brand’s successful tradition that was established in the 1950s, when the same designation was used for exceptionally sporty models. Unlike the standard models from the series, which are already fully equipped, the TS features diamond-like chrome rhombus shapes and a chrome Borgward rhombus with refining red inlays mounted on the brand’s typical OCTAGON grille. 

Additional typical TS features include specially designed alloy wheels, bumpers, door sill trim, and cladding in the vehicle color, as well as decorative trim made of brushed aluminum. The red TS logo in chrome adorns the front fenders, the rear hatch, and the brake calipers on the six-piston front disc brakes.

The outstandingly spacious and sporty TS interior combines classical elements with innovative state-of-the-art components to create a harmonious atmosphere. Here, high-quality, velvety-soft premium nappa leather with the classical Borgward contrast stitching in hand-made quality is perfectly supplemented by innovative components such as a 12.3-inch central media touchscreen display. The sport program also includes a flat-bottom sports steering wheel and sports pedals. 

The interior also features the same brushed aluminum that serves as the distinguishing material for the exterior trim in the TS equipment line. This brushed aluminum refines the dashboard, the handles on the center console, and the air conditioning vents, as well as other components. Other refining elements with a velvety sheen include the aforementioned sports steering wheel and pedals, as well as the gearshift and rocker panels with illuminated TS lettering.

Successful launch in East Asia; market launch in Europe in 2017

Following the successful market launch in China last month, and after the planned launch in India and other emerging markets later this year, Borgward will introduce the BX models to European markets in 2017. In Europe, the German automaker will initially launch the vehicle in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as plug-in hybrid models and all-electric vehicles.

The 100,000th third generation, Skoda Superb has rolled of the production line, just a year after going on sale.

• Since 2001, more than 850,000 ŠKODA Superb models have been manufactured; 100,000 third-generation ŠKODA Superbs since March 2015
• Brand’s flagship in demand across all markets
• Substantial investments into ŠKODA Kvasiny plant, and employee recruitment

ŠKODA has produced 100,000 third-generation Superbs. The milestone vehicle ran off the assembly line at the ŠKODA plant in Kvasiny on 11^th May 2016. Since the model was introduced in 2001, the Czech manufacturer has produced more than 850,000 Superbs and the production capacity at Kvasiny has been expanded and modernised for the production of ŠKODA’s flagship.

“The production of this highly modern car is a testament to the outstanding competence of the Kvasiny plant and its employees,” said Michael Oeljeklaus, ŠKODA AUTO Board Member for Production and Logistics, adding: “The name Superb represents one of the best and most successful models in the automotive mid-class. This third-generation model will continue the Superb’s success story in the coming months and years.”

Since production began in March 2015, the latest ŠKODA Superb has demonstrated the emotional power of the brand with its new design. ŠKODA has now produced one hundred thousand third generation ŠKODA Superbs. Never before has a ŠKODA showcased so much technology, space and design in one package.

There are a host of new assistance systems from higher vehicle classes ensuring increased safety, better environmental protection and higher comfort levels. The third-generation Superb is more powerful and up to 30 percent more economical thanks to the new EU-6 engines.

The success of this model has not only been demonstrated by the high number of orders, but also by receiving numerous awards such as the 'Red Dot Award' for excellent product design and the title 'Car of the Year' in many European countries.

Since 2001, the ŠKODA Superb model family has crowned ŠKODA’s range. This ties the Czech automaker to its tradition of prestigious vehicles such as the Laurin & Klement FF, dating back to 1907 which was the first eight-cylinder model in Central Europe. In the 1920s, the first president of Czechoslovakia Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, owned the luxurious ŠKODA Hispano-Suiza; the eight-cylinder ŠKODA 860 was an impressive sight in the early 1930s. And in 1934 the first ‘Superb’ rolled off the production line: the ŠKODA 640 Superb.

The new generation Superb first appeared in 2001, and customers have always appreciated this model’s overall package: space, elegant design, tried and tested technology, high levels of comfort, safety, functionality and excellent value for money. 

The second generation arrived in 2008: A vehicle with new, versatile uses, more technology and a timelessly elegant design. 

The ŠKODA Superb has also been available as an estate since 2009, and the third-generation estate version of the Superb has been running off the production lines since June 2015.

At the Kvasiny plant, the company made significant investments ahead of the new ŠKODA Superb’s start of production. A total of CZK 1.7 billion went into the new body-construction line alone and the Kvasiny site is being prepared for the brand’s SUV campaign. By 2018, ŠKODA intends to invest a total of CZK 7.2 billion into Kvasiny and create 2,000 new jobs. The production capacity will be gradually increased to 280,000 vehicles annually. Kvasiny is one of ŠKODA’s three production sites in the Czech Republic and the site currently employs more than 5,000 people, and is one of the largest industrial employers in the Hradec Králové region.

Mazda's CX-3, MX-5 and Mazda 2 City Car win Red Dot Awards 2015.

• Mazda MX-5, Mazda CX-3 and Mazda2 distinguished this year by design centre
• Every single new-generation model has now been honoured for its KODO exterior

Three new Mazdas, three more awards. The Japanese carmaker will take away accolades for the all-new Mazda MX-5, Mazda CX-3 and Mazda2 from the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 ceremony in June.

The fourth-generation of the iconic roadster has won the “Red Dot: Best of the Best” prize, the contest’s highest distinction, bestowed on only 1.6% of the submissions this year for exceptionally ground-breaking designs. The CX-3, Mazda’s first small SUV, was chosen for a “Red Dot” award for outstanding design quality. 

Finally, the all-new Mazda2 receives an “Honourable Mention”. The Red Dot jury assessed the entries based on a number of criteria ranging from design innovation to functionality, ergonomics and ecological compatibility.

The company’s three newest models thus follow in the path of preceding new-generation Mazdas. All have now won prizes in recognition of their head-turning KODO – Soul of Motion exterior designs, including Red Dot awards for five of them. KODO’s lines and shapes represent pent-up energy and the athletic “moving” nature of Mazda’s vehicles. 

The concept has its roots in the carmaker’s long-time sports car tradition, perhaps no better epitomised than by the MX-5. Now in its fourth generation, the world’s best-selling roadster has a uniquely dynamic KODO style. The CX-3 and Mazda2 have also been targets of praise in the small SUV and B segments, respectively.

“This recognition from Red Dot is a testimony to KODO’s flexibility and the artistic freedom it gives us,” says Kevin Rice, Mazda’s European design director. “KODO captures the moment of pent-up energy before an athlete or animal springs into motion. One way to control the visual energy is to ‘compress’ and ‘release’ it as it moves along the body of a car, as we have done with the new MX-5. 

The new CX-3 takes a different artistic approach by blending the two main volumes of the car and creating the energy that way. The Mazda2 is different again, demonstrating how KODO helps us give each car its own individual character”.

Initiated in 1955 by the Essen, Germany-based Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, Red Dot is the world’s largest and most prestigious product competition. For the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015, the international jury of designers, professors and journalists evaluated 4,928 submission from 56 countries. Mazda and other winners will receive their awards on 29 June at the Aalto Theatre in Essen. 

The products themselves, selected in 31 categories including vehicles, will be on display in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen from 30 June 2015 to 30 July 2016 and online at www.red-dot.de. They have earned the right to bear the “red dot” symbol, an international seal of design excellence.