Concept car of the year

Jaguar, Lotus and VW concept cars triumph in Detroit The annual international showcasing of futuristic motor vehicle design in the USA and Canada has culminated in the victories of Jaguar, Lotus and VW at the 2011 North American Concept Car of the Year Awards in Detroit this month. Jaguar won top honours for both Concept Car of the Year and Most Significant Concept Vehicle of 2011 with its C-X75, Lotus won the award for 2011 Production Preview Vehicle of the Year with its Eterne, and the Volkswagen Bulli was voted the best Concept ‘Truck’ in the competition. The VW Bulli is a much more compact, more affordable version of the company’s Microbus. A six-seater, the Bulli was built to accommodate electric, petrol and diesel engines, with its many features including a full-length glass roof – no talk of a production model just yet. The 5-litre V8 Lotus Eterne, positioned as “the ultimate four-door sports car” and boasting a top speed of over 300km/hr, was recently approved for production and is expected to sell for around £235 000. Whereas the C-X75 is a beautiful all-wheel-drive hybrid supercar powered by a small four-cylinder turbo-charged petrol engine combined with two electric motors, which Jaguar intends to put into limited production and sell for close to £1-million come 2013. The Jag’s main competition for the title of Concept Car of the Year came from the Audi Quattro, the Mazda Shinari and Porsche’s 918 RSR Hybrid, with other cars that have people talking loudest or longest following the North American and European motor shows held thus far in 2011 include the Alfa Romeo 4C Concept and the Mini Rocketman Concept.