Infiniti, BMW Take Home EyesOn Design Awards in Detroit

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Jan 22, 2018

It was a thin field, but all winners were worthy of their awards

The Detroit Auto Show was popping this week with enough debuts and concept car unveilings to make for an action-packed week. Two cars, in particular, were honored with EyesOn Design awards, one for being the best concept in the show, and another for being the best production vehicle. The Infiniti Q Inspiration Concept and the BMW X2 SUV took home top honors in the two categories, respectively.

The Infiniti Q Inspiration Concept is a worthy choice of best concept in Detroit. It stands out for a number of reasons, including the less prevalent use of chrome, the carved headlamps, and the 3D grille. Our colleague, Ciprian Florea, touched on these points earlier this week. Beyond these three appealing features, the Q Inspiration Concept also showcased a promising future for Infiniti’s model lineup moving forward.

Granted, the lack of concepts in Detroit — we counted less than ten notable concepts in attendance — meant that the Q Inspiration Concept didn’t have enough competition for this award. It’s a fair point because, in my mind, the award came down to the Q Inspiration and the Lexus LF-1 SUV Concept. Still, fair play to Infiniti for showing up with a concept that achieved its goal of showcasing what the future holds for the company.

The BMW X2 is a more curious choice for Best Production Vehicle. It’s not that the crossover looks bad; it’s that there were many worthy contenders for the award. The Chevrolet Silverado comes to mind, as does the Ford Edge ST. The Hyundai Veloster and the Veloster N also merited some consideration.

But I won’t begrudge the flock of retired auto designers who decided on these things to award the X2. It’s far and away a better-looking car than its predecessor. The X2’s muscular and aggressive look is a welcome surprise. More importantly, there’s a good balance to its design. Nothing stands out in a bad way. That, I suppose, is its biggest design draw.

Speaking of the X2, the crossover also took home the award for Vehicle Harmonization. Meanwhile, the Q2 Inspiration was also a two-time winner, taking home the Best Designed Interior award. The Nissan XMotion Concept was given an award for Innovation Use of Color, Graphics, or Materials, while the Ram 1500 won Best Designed User Experience.

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