Maruti Suzuki India’s Chief Technology Officer, C V Raman, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious World Car Person of the Year Award 2024.
The eligibility for the World Car Person of the Year Award depends on the contribution of potential candidates in the global automotive industry. The contribution could include a significant impact on their brand or company or a significant safety, engineering, design technical advancement, or other significant benefit for the consumer.
The World Car Awards, is amongst the most coveted recognition globally which sees over 100 jurors share their views and recognitions.
The top five finalists shortlisted for the 2024 World Car Person of the Year Award include –
Stephan Durach, SVP Connected Company Development, BMW Group. He and his team were responsible for launching BMW Operating Systems 8.5 and 9, coupled with the introduction of the AirConsole gaming platform in the new BMW 5 series, as well as for the innovative ‘BMW Panoramic Vision’ head-up display in the BMW i Vision Dee vehicle introduced at CES in 2023. Stretching across the entire width of the windshield, and visible to all vehicle occupants, ‘Panoramic Vision’ is scheduled to make its market debut in BMW’s Neue Klasse vehicles in 2025.
Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer, Red Bull Racing – He is the designer and driving force behind the RB19, the most dominant race car in the history of Formula One. It won 21 of 22 races in 2023, enabling Red Bull’s sixth and Max Verstappen’s third World Championships and establishing the design concept to be pursued by most of its competitors. After 35 years in Formula 1 and more than 200 victories for cars of his design, Newey is at the absolute peak of his spectacular career.
Andreas Preuninger, Porsche GT – Best known as ‘Mr. GT’, he has been responsible for Porsche’s GT cars since 2000. In 2023 he presented two very different GT cars to the automotive world – the 718 Spyder RS and the 911 S/T, both of which focus on maximum driving pleasure. The 718 Spyder, an open version of the track-tool 718 Cayman GT4 RS, is not developed for the racetrack but is even lighter than its coupe sibling. The 911 S/T, the lightest 911 of the 992 generation and the official anniversary car for 60 years of the Porsche 911, has been called by the legendary Walter Rohrl, ‘simply the best road car ever built.’
C V Raman, CTO, Maruti Suzuki India – Having spent 4-decades at Maruti-Suzuki, Ramam leads development for global models. After years of transferring technology and engineering created in Japan to the Indian operation, he has now developed in-house teams and capability in India. That effort came to the fore in 2023 with the development of the 5-door Jimny, the entire redesign and reengineering of which he helmed, as well as the new Fronx subcompact crossover model line – developed and made in India but for the world. With these vehicles he has helped put Suzuki’s India ops on the map in a big way for the first time.
Lisa Reeves, Head of Interior Design, Volvo Cars – She has crafted some of this year’s most imaginative interior designs. Human-centricity and sustainability are central to the philosophy of the Swedish company. Lisa personifies these values with a blend of playfulness and sophistication while seamlessly integrating a form-follows-function principle. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Volvo EX30, designed to have the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo car to date. The EX30 features a unique approach to storage and the use of natural and recycled materials.
Interestingly, Raman becomes the second Indian, after Pratap Bose, to be shortlisted amongst the top finalist for the World Car Person of the Year Award.
In 2021, Pratap Bose, who was the then Head of Design at Tata Motors’ was a contender for the award, given the significant strides and connect the company had taken on the back of its new design language.
The World Car of the Year Award was first introduced in 2018 which saw Hakan Samuelsson, President and CEO, Volvo Car Group win the maiden Award. In 2019, Sergio Marchionne, CEO, FCA; Chairman, CNH Industrial; and Chairman and CEO, Ferrari won the award. Carlos Tavares, CEO, PSA Group won the award in 2020; followed by Akio Toyoda, President & CEO, Toyota Motor Corporation in 2021; Luc Donckerwolke, Executive VP for Design and Chief Creative Officer, Hyundai Motor Group in 2022 and SangYup Lee, Executive VP, Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Center, Hyundai Motor Company in 2023.
