The top five finalists for the 2021 World Car Person of the Year award were announced recently, and Indian car designer Pratap Bose is one of the five contenders who's in-running for the prestigious award. 93 World Car Awards (WCA) jurors from 28 countries unanimously voted for the finalists by secret ballot and KPMG tabulated the vote results. Pratap Bose is the Tata Motors' Vice President, Global Design, and has been instrumental in giving shape to the brand's new-age cars under the brand's 'forever new' strategy.
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Apart from Bose, the other four names in contention are Luc Donckerwolke - Chief Creative Officer, Hyundai Motor Group, Euisin Chung - Chairman, Hyundai Motor Group, Tomiko Takeuchi - Mazda's first-ever female chief engineer and program manager of the MX-30, and finally Akio Toyoda, the President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation.
Speaking to carandbike about the nomination, Pratap Bose said, "To say that I am overwhelmed to be amongst the top 5 personalities would be an understatement. To see Indian Design represented at the highest level of Global Automotive Achievement is a very very proud moment for me, and I hope this is an example of what car designers can achieve as a part of a brilliant team!"
For the award candidates to be eligible, they must have made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry during the period of January 1 to December 31, 2020. The said contribution could include a significant impact on their brand or company in terms of engineering, safety, design or technical advancement.
The new design language adopted by Tata Motors was seen on the newly-launched Safari SUV
A Royal College of Art graduate, Pratap Bose runs Tata's three design centres around the world located in India, Italy and the UK. His expertise has helped transform the Indian auto brands newer cars in terms of appeal. A journey that was most notably seen with the Tiago and continues with the company's latest launch - all-new Safari SUV.
The World Car Person of the Year award is one of the most prestigious in the auto sector and its recipients have been several industry heads including Carlos Tavares, CEO - PSA Group (2020), the late Sergio Marchionne, CEO, FCA; Chairman, CNH Industrial; and Chairman and CEO, Ferrari (2019) and Hakan Samuelsson, President and CEO, Volvo Car Group (2018).
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The World Car Person of the Year award is one of the six awards handed out by the World Car Awards annually with the categories including - World Luxury Car, World Urban Car, World Performance Car, World Car Design and World Car of the Year. WCA is currently in its 17th year.
