AS 2016 comes to a close, BMW is able to look back on a highly successful year with well over 50 national and international awards and distinctions. As in the past, vehicles of the brand were highly rated by juries across a range of different categories and topics, frequently finishing at the top of the winners' rostrum. The awards reflect not just outstanding product quality but also design, technical innovation, intelligent connectivity and sustainability. Jury members included automobile journalists and readers of automobile magazines as well as experts from the areas of IT, business, environment and design. It is particularly satisfying to note that BMW succeeded in gaining some of the world's most coveted distinctions, including the "World Car Award" and the title "Best Car" for the BMW 7 Series, as well as the "Golden Steering Wheel" for the BMW i3. What is more, the BMW M2 Coupé as well as the all new BMW 5 Series Sedan went straight onto the winner's podium even though it is a newcomer model. BMW 7 Series and BMW i8 come out top worldwide. The new BMW 7 Series was able to continue its outstanding success in 2016. Having won numerous national and international distinctions last year, the top BMW model was named "World Luxury Car" as part of the "World Car Awards". Independent experts also confirmed the innovative strength of BMW in a range of instances. "CarIT", an information magazine for decision-makers in the field of connected mobility, in collaboration with the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), named the remote control parking option in the BMW 7 Series as the foremost leading-edge technology in the "Connected Car" category. In addition to this the premium sedan won two distinctions as part of the "Automotive Innovations Award", conferred jointly by the CAM and the auditing and consultancy company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Here the BMW 7 Series secured the title of "Most Innovative Model 2016", while the power units of BMW models across the board received the award for the most innovative conventional engines. In Austria, the automobile club ÖAMTC awarded the sedan the "Marcus" award as the safest car in the luxury performance segment while in Germany the BMW 7 Series was voted company car of the year ("Company Car"/Dekra), company vehicle of the year ("Handelsblatt"), "Top Performer" ("Autoflotte") and "Best Car" in the luxury performance segment ("auto motor und sport"). In the "Car Connectivity Award" conferred jointly by "Motorpresse Stuttgart" and the computer magazine "CHIP", readers voted the BMW 7 Series best-connected car. After its overall victory and two class victories last year, the BMW i8 engine won the "International Engine of the Year Award" for the second time as well as securing a class victory in the category between 1.4 and 1.8 liters capacity. The "Times of India" named the hybrid sports car "Technology of the Year", while in Germany the BMW i8 was once again voted all-wheel drive car of the year in the category "All-Wheel Drive Hybrid Cars" by readers of the magazine "Auto Bild Allrad". BMW M2 Coupé: newcomer goes straight onto the winners' rostrum. The readers' vote held by the automobile magazine "Auto Bild Sportscars" provided impressive evidence of the successful concept embodied by the new BMW M2 Coupé. In the category "Compact Car Series", the high-performance sports car featuring an in-line 6-cylinder engine with an output of 272 kW/370 hp and a capacity of 3.0 liters (combined fuel consumption: 8.5-7.9 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 199–185 g/km)* instantly secured the "Sports Car of the Year" award. And in their vote for the sportiest cars of 2016, readers of the automobile magazine "Sport Auto" likewise selected the BMW M GmbH newcomer. In addition to the BMW M2 Coupé, the BMW M3, the BMW M235i Coupé, the BMW M235i Convertible and the BMW 340i Sedan all finished first in four other categories. This meant that of all manufacturers, BMW won the most titles at this year's "Sport Auto Award" this year. And that is not all: the new BMW M2 Coupé was voted "Car of the Year" in Japan as well as gaining three prestigious design distinctions – the "iF Design Award", the "Good Design Award" and the "Autonis". BMW achieved an impressive triple success in the "auto motor und sport" readers' vote. The BMW 7 Series ("Luxury Performance Segment"), the BMW 5 Series ("Upper Mid-Range") and the BMW X1 ("Compact SUVs") were voted "BEST CARS 2016". One particular notable feat was that, shortly before the launch of the new model generation, the BMW 5 Series finished in first place for the sixth time in succession. Even though the successor will only be launched in spring 2017, the readers of "Auto Bild" and "Computer Bild" are already fully convinced of the all new BMW 5 Series Sedan. Therefore the car has already been named "Connected Car 2016". The readers of "Handelsblatt" voted the BMW X5 "Company Car of the Year" in the category "Off-Road Cars". The same business magazine also called upon 250 fleet managers to carry out a practical comparative test to establish their favorites. In the top range, it was ultimately the new BMW 730d that was able to impress the majority of fleet experts. Top rankings in the area of value retention and sustainability, too. The strengths of BMW vehicles in the area of value retention were reflected in the award of the distinction "Value Master 2016", conferred by the automobile magazine "Auto Bild" together with the market investigation institute Schwacke. The BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer came out top in the category "Compact Vans" while the BMW X1 won the "Small SUVs" class. Meanwhile the BMW i3 won the ranking for electric vehicles for the second time in succession. The purely electrically powered premium model was no less successful in the "Golden Steering Wheel" competition organised jointly by "Auto Bild" and "Bild am Sonntag". Here again the winner in the "Alternative Drives" category was the BMW i3. Another distinction highlights especially impressively the BMW brand's commitment to environment-friendly and sustainable technologies: as part of the "Auto Trophy" awards organised by the automobile magazine "Auto Zeitung", the international editors' prize "Premium Pioneer Electromobility" went to BMW i.
