Almost everything is new! Held for the twelfth time in Switzerland for the car of the year selection, the auto party got a brand new look this year after the two-year Corona break. As Switzerland played against Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar that same evening, the organizer «Schweizer Illustrierte» invited a crowd of famous guests from the automotive industry, sports and culture to an aperitif and public viewing at the Classic Center in Safenwil AG. at 17.00
Warm up with appetizers, champagne and football for the subsequent awards ceremony for Swiss car of the year – something different. Gala also appears in a new guise: instead of football expert Rainer-Maria Salzgeber (53), who remains in Qatar, ice hockey expert Jann Billeter (50) will lead the night as veteran moderator. The guests are greeted by Silvia Binggeli (50), the new editor-in-chief of “Schweizer Illustrierte”, who takes the stage with a lot of smoke in the James Bond Aston Martin numbered AG 007.
Winners: Genesis and Skoda
The rest of the evening is new too. Similar to a fashion show, guests sit to the left and right of a podium where car winners parade. Speaking of winners: None of the well-established brands came out on top in the main election. A twelve-person expert jury chaired by former F1 team boss Monisha Kaltenborn (51) selected the all-electric GV60 from the luxury brand and Hyundai subsidiary Genesis, which has been operating exclusively in the Swiss market since last year. of the year 2023.
The only thing not new about tonight is the winner in the audience vote. For the third time in a row, a Skoda model won the title of “Switzerland’s Favorite Car”. More than 28,000 readers of “Schweizer Illustrierte”, Blick and SonntagsBlick, as well as “L’illustré” and “La Domenica” voted. 6.8 percent, and thus clearly the majority, prefer the all-electric Skoda Enyaq Coupé RS iV, which was officially launched just a month ago. And since the second and third models in both the jury and the public vote are electric cars, we can rightly say that electromobility, which is still in its infancy, has now arrived in our country.